IN BRIEF
In our January 2016 Commentary, " Are You Ready for the Emerging Market Credit Bust?," we noted that with emerging market debt levels soaring to unprecedented heights and the inevitable cross-border repercussions of defaults, creditors were going to need a well-planned, multijurisdictional strategy to avoid being outflanked by debtors and better prepared investors. This Commentary takes a broad look at the financial challenges facing the Latin American region generally and some of its important markets, and suggests creditors take stock of their current exposure and proactively prepare appropriate plans to protect themselves in the current climate.
A REGIONAL OUTLOOK
For Latin America and the Caribbean, growth in 2016 is now
expected to be negative for the second consecutive year—the
first time since the debt crisis of 1982–83, which triggered
the "lost decade" for the region. This decline to date
has been principally explained by a combination of external factors
applying to the region generally, such as changes in Chinese
economic activity, a strong U.S. dollar, and a sharp decline in
commodity prices, and internal factors applying to the various
countries within the region specifically, such as political
instability, macroeconomic fragilities, and corruption scandals.
However, the regional recession masks the fact that most countries
continue to grow at a modest rate, with country specifics being
determined by the interplay between external shocks and domestic
fundamentals.1 Indeed, the negative growth projections
for the region are driven by Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and
Venezuela (see table).2 Of these countries, in 2015
foreign direct investment was significant only in Brazil.
South America
Chile, Colombia,
and Peru. Chile, Colombia, and
Peru have strong fiscal, monetary, and financial policies that have
so far effectively staved off contraction. The foundations for
growth remain in place, including credible institutions and
favorable foreign borrowing costs. Governments in these countries
to varying extents are continuing to work to take advantage of
these circumstances with ambitious infrastructure development plans
that continue to attract the financial support of international
investors. The International Monetary Fund ("IMF")
expects Peru, Chile, and Colombia to grow in 2016 at a rate of 3.7
percent, 1.5 percent, and 2.5 percent, respectively. In these
countries, although there is an uptake in default and insolvency
cases, there are no signs of a widespread credit
crisis.3
Brazil. In Brazil, macroeconomic fragilities (weak
domestic economy, weak fiscal position, high inflation, and high
interest rates) combined with political instability, the slump in
commodity prices, and the bribery scandal roiling Petroleo
Brasileiro S.A., known as Petrobras, have dominated the economic
outlook. According to the IMF, Brazil's output is expected to
fall 3.8 percent in 2016, after a 3.8 percent contraction in 2015.
Unemployment has risen sharply, and inflation is in the double
digits.4 Last year, a record 1,287 Brazilian
companies—most of them oil equipment, construction, and
manufacturing firms—requested court protection from
creditors, about 55 percent more than in 2014. The Brazilian
Corporate Recovery Institute estimates that half of such companies
may go bankrupt during their turnaround attempts.5 While
this conclusion demonstrates that the Brazilian bankruptcy law
needs to continue to improve in order to provide additional
mechanisms for struggling businesses to survive, it also shows that
many companies, including large corporate enterprises, have been
able to utilize recuperação judicial to
successfully restructure. Inspired by the U.S. bankruptcy
code's Chapter 11 procedure, the new Brazilian law was designed
to revive ailing companies and prevent them from slipping further.
As a result of this potential for value preservation, we are seeing
a dramatic increase in debt restructurings aimed at providing
companies with a manageable path to recovery.
Venezuela. In Venezuela, the collapse in oil
prices has intensified a full-fledged economic and political
crisis. With widespread shortages of consumer goods and prices
spiraling down, the IMF expects that Venezuela will experience a
fall in output of 8 percent in 2016 with inflation rising to 720
percent from a world-high inflation rate of about 275 percent in
2015. In 2014, Venezuela issued a new foreign investment law that
further reduced foreign investors' rights in the country,
making conditions for foreign investment unlikely to improve in the
near term.
Argentina. In Argentina, the new government of
Mauricio Macri has taken significant steps toward eliminating
restrictions on the foreign exchange market, removing several
constraints on international trade and announcing the main
guidelines of a macroeconomic framework, including negotiating a
deal with the holders of $900 million of bonds on which Argentina
defaulted in 2001. The new approach has improved prospects for
growth in the medium term, although for 2016 the GDP is still
expected to contract. After a 15-year absence, Argentina has
returned to the international capital markets with a successful
$16.5 billion bond offering, the largest emerging market bond sale
on record.6 Inflation is, however, in the double digits,
and a significant increase in foreign investment is likely to ramp
up slowly. From a legal standpoint, in the next few years we expect
to see a strengthening of the country's institutions and, one
hopes, an increase in corporate governance and legal compliance in
the private sector.
Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean
Mexico. Mexico is expected to continue to grow in
2016 at a moderate pace (2.4 percent), supported by healthy private
domestic demand and spillovers from a strong U.S.
economy.7 The IMF anticipates that the depreciation of
the peso (by 16 percent in real effective terms in 2015) and lower
electricity prices will boost manufacturing production and exports
and have a positive impact on domestic demand. In addition, the
implementation of structural reforms continues broadly on track. In
2015, the telecommunications reform and the latest auction of oil
fields were successful in attracting foreign investment, while the
financial reform helped strengthen consumer protection and led to
increased competition in the banking sector.8 The sharp
decline in oil revenues was largely offset by a combination of
higher-than-expected fuel excises and income taxes (related to the
2013 tax reform) and the oil-price hedge of oil export receipts. In
spite of this situation, oil and construction companies started to
show signs of distress in 2015, which are deepening in 2016. In
February 2016, faced with the prospect of a continuing drop in oil
revenue, the Public Finance Secretary of Mexico announced $8.3
billion in budget cuts, slashing the budget of Petroleos Mexicanos
("Pemex"), the state oil company. Pemex faces $90 billion
in unfunded pension liabilities and $11 billion in debt obligations
in 2016. It also accounts for approximately one third of
Mexico's federal spending.9 On April 13, the Mexican
government granted Pemex a $4.2 billion aid package and a $2.9
billion tax cut.10 The rescue package is conditional on
Pemex cutting spending by $5.8 billion this year, approximately 19
percent of last year's total spending. Rating agencies are
closely watching Pemex's success in the ongoing sales of
non-key assets and the farming out of oil fields to joint ventures.
Overall, however, the fundamentals of the Mexican economy remain
relatively sound, and it is expected that the budget cuts, which
are larger than anticipated, will help build a buffer against a
weaker economy.11
Central America and the
Dominican Republic. Central America and the
Dominican Republic, like Mexico, have benefitted from a strong U.S.
economy and higher remittances and, as they are net commodity
importers, from lower commodity prices. However, the recent
softening of world coffee and banana prices could reduce this
trend.12
The Caribbean. On the other hand, with the
exception of the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean region has
become one of the most indebted in the world, and its economies are
more vulnerable to external shocks. The key factors contributing to
debt distress in the Caribbean region are natural disasters,
economic volatility, banking and currency crises, and socioeconomic
challenges such as high crime, poverty, and
unemployment.13 The four Caribbean states with the
highest debt-to-GDP ratios are Jamaica at 133 percent, Antigua and
Barbuda at 107 percent, and Barbados at 103 percent. Following
Puerto Rico's default, Jamaica could be the next Caribbean
country to face a sovereign default given its debt levels,
persistent low growth (at less than 1 percent a year in the last
decade), weak government, and intermediate institutional
strength.
ASSESSING RISK AND PREPARING TO TAKE PROTECTIVE MEASURES
The Latin American region as a whole remains particularly
vulnerable to a stronger-than-expected downturn in China and to
further declines in commodity prices. However, the extent to which
these external macroeconomic factors will have a negative effect on
the various countries in the region continues to depend largely on
the particular internal circumstances of such countries, with
possible spillover effects in the case of the largest markets. For
example, a continued deterioration of the situation in Brazil could
lead to a reduced demand for exports from the Mercosur countries
and to a repricing of regional assets, given Brazil's weight
within Latin American debt markets as an assets class and its
comparatively high degree of liquidity in the financial markets.
Such spillover effects could present a risk for the otherwise
moderately positive current outlook on countries such as Chile,
Colombia, and Peru (although not others, such as Mexico).
Given this outlook, we expect the need for debt restructurings to
continue to increase throughout the year and advise creditors to
take stock of their exposure in order to start the process of
laying out plans as to how best protect their rights. While no
single strategy or plan is optimal for all cases, advance planning
is critical due to the fact that most countries have ineffective
bankruptcy laws and/or processes and weak mechanisms for efficient
enforcement of creditors' rights. Although it is true that in
the last 15 years, most Latin American countries have adopted
insolvency statutes that favor organized debt restructurings over
liquidations, experience has shown that creditors still face
substantial challenges to make effective recoveries in the
region.
THREE KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The Latin American region remains particularly vulnerable to a stronger-than-expected downturn in China and to further declines in commodity prices. A further deterioration of the situation in Brazil could have a significant negative impact on several countries in the region that are currently weathering the crisis, such as Chile, Colombia, and Peru.
- Given the current climate, creditors are advised to take action to protect their rights. We expect the need for debt restructurings to continue to increase throughout the year.
- With complex cross-border structures common, effective relief may require simultaneous action in more than one country. Advance planning is critical, particularly since most countries in Latin America lack effective bankruptcy laws and debtor-in-possession regulations.
Footnotes
1 Alejandro Werner, World Economic Forum, "IMF: Latin America's economies have a tough year ahead," Jan. 21, 2016; and International Monetary Fund, "World Economic Outlook. Too Slow for Too Long," Apr. 2016.
2 Id.
3 Roberto Junguito, Portafolio, "La coyuntura económica del 2016," Jan. 26, 2016; Statistics from the Superintendencia de Sociedades de Colombia, Mar. 31, 2016; Superintendencia de Insolvencia y Reemprendimiento de Chile, Boletín Estadístico, Ley No. 20.720, Apr. 30, 2016; Instituto Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia y de la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual de Perú, Anuario de Estadísticas Institucionales, 2014 and 2015; and International Monetary Fund, "Colombia: Concluding Statement of the March 2016 Article IV Mission," Mar. 18, 2016.
4 Although the new government headed by interim President Michel Temer—which took office on May 12, 2016 after the Senate voted to suspend President Dilma Rousseff from office for up to 180 days pending an impeachment trial by the Senate—is expected to be more business friendly than the previous one and to seek to adopt measures designed to revive the economy, it will probably take some time before positive effects are felt in the country's economy, notwithstanding the recent improvement in the business and economic outlook.
5 Tatiana Bautzer and Guillermo Parra-Bernal, Reuters, "Insight—Brazil a bright spot for debt restructuring advisors as recession bites hard," Jan. 28, 2016.
6 Julie Wernau and Carolyn Cui, The Wall Street Journal, "Argentina Returns to Global Debt Markets With $16.5 Billion Bond Sale," Apr. 19, 2016.
7 International Monetary Fund, "World Economic Outlook. Too Slow for Too Long," Apr. 2016.
8 International Monetary Fund, "IMF Executive Board Concludes 2015 Article IV Consultation with Mexico," Nov. 17, 2015.
9 Dimitra DeFotis, Emerging Markets Daily, "Pemex: How To Fund $90 Billion Deficit? Hire An Economist," Feb. 10, 2016.
10 The Economist, "Turning the tanker," Apr. 23, 2016.
11 Adam Williams, BloombergBusiness, "New CEO to Accelerate Reforms at Mexico's Indebted Oil Company," Feb. 9, 2016.
12 Alejandro Werner, World Economic Forum, "IMF: Latin America's economies have a tough year ahead," Jan. 21, 2016; and Ernesto Talvi et al, Brookings, "Latin America: Back to the 1980s or heading for rebound?" Nov. 23, 2015.
13 Latin American Herald Tribune, "Jamaica Could be the Next Caribbean Country to Face Debt Crisis," Feb. 4, 2016.
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