Authorities from both countries agreed to work on the unification of their stock markets, starting with the issuance of a quota of Guatemalan subsidized debt directed to Salvadoran investors.
Representatives of the Guatemalan Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Finance of El Salvador informed that before the end of this fiscal year, the Guatemalan subsidized debt will be approximately $13 million.
Using a web platform with key information from all of the markets in the region and the Dominican Republic, Central American stock exchanges propose reviving the plan to create a truly integrated regional market.
Once again authorities at stock exchanges in Central American countries and the Dominican Republic have put back on the table the plan to integrate the stock markets in each each country into a single regional one.
The Morales administration intends to continue with the issuance in 2018 of Treasury bonds aimed at small investors, with investment amounts ranging from between $3 thousand and $68 thousand.
The measure will give continuity to what was done in the previous year, when 35 small investors acquired debt bonds for $1.3 million at a rate of 6.25%.
On November 13th and 14th Costa Rican entrepreneurs of hotel brands, investment funds and real estate developers will be meeting in Costa Rica to discuss sustainable investments in the industry.
The event is being organized by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) and will take place at the Hotel Real Intercontinental.
Before June the Ministry of Finance plans to issue between $500 million and $700 million in foreign debt securities on the international market.
The debt bond issue being prepared by the Ministry of Finance will have similar characteristics, to the issuance made in the international market in May 2016. In that issue $700 million was placed, at an interest rate of 4.6% and a term of 10 years.
In the first auction only large investors may take part and from the second semester issues will be made for short terms and low amounts, aimed at small investors.
Using the online platform State debt securities can be bought by local investors, through brokers approved by the stock exchange.The regulations published in the official newspaper La Gaceta establish how the auctions will be conducted, and the settlement and interest payments.
The Ministry of Finance will be attempting to raise funds in the international and local market in order to improve the public debt profile.
The endorsement by the Congress will allow the Ministry of Finance to extend the term and reduce the cost of part of the public debt.The amount authorized amounts to $891 million and the Ministry of Finance plans to use the local and international markets to renegotiate.
The rate obtained is the lowest in history for a Eurobond Guatemala issue, and allowed the country to obtain significant savings, estimated at $20 million in annual interest expenses compared with current local rates.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance:
Guatemala issues Eurobonds in international capital markets
The Ministry of Finance today sold US $700 million of Eurobonds with an interest rate of 4.6% at a 10-year term.
Noting the political system's inability to agree on fiscal issues, Standard & Poor's has downgraded, from BB to BB-, the rating for the country's long-term debt, giving it a negative outlook.
Costa Rica Long-Term Ratings Lowered To 'BB-' On Continued Fiscal Deterioration; Outlook Is Negative
25 Feb 2016
Source: Standardandpoors.com
OVERVIEW
The combination of growing spending pressures and lack of tax reform has weakened Costa Rica's public finances and raised its vulnerability to
Analysis of the current state of the Panamanian capital market, including the confidence threatened by various financial setbacks, and the opportunities to make the much needed structural changes.
Martesfinanciero.com reviews three episodes which have shocked the Panamanian financial market in recent weeks: "These events have shaken the financial system and put market players on alert.
Debt securities issued by private companies in the Guatemalan stock market increased by 20% in the last twelve months.
The sale of securities up to December 2014 increased from $239 million to $287 million, an increase of 20%, after a slight decline due to the withdrawal of 5 issues by one of the participating companies was registered in 2014. One factor that attracts companies is the cost of financing, which, depending on the type of instrument to be sold, may be less than the cost of a bank loan.
Treasury debt securities have been issued with a 15-year term and a weighted average rate of 7.4810%.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance in Guatemala:
The result of the sale of treasury bonds, held on Tuesday December 1, 2015, is as follows:
There was demand for Q1,300.6 million, of which 16.91% had a maturity date of 02.10.2025, 9.23% with a maturity of 19.05.2027 and 73.86% with a maturity date of 18 / 03/2030.
Approval has been given to the start of operations of Casa de Bolsa de los Trabajadores, a subsidiary of Grupo Financiero de los Trabajadores.
The stock broker will focus on both corporate and individual clients , and in a first stage, "... in electronic repo transactions, but will also venture into the sale of treasury bonds on the secondary market."
Small investors have bought $15 million in shares ranging from $1,000 to $20,000, from a trust that will finance a wind project in Uruguay. Another $62 million will be offered to institutional investors.
EDITORIAL
The offer received in the Uruguayan Securities Exchange from small investors reached $100 million, a clear sign of the high interest in the prospective investment which has a mitigated risk as it is a project by a strong state run enterprise, with a return almost assured, estimated at about 11.5% a year, in the 20 years which is the term of the share certificate.
An adequate legal framework is needed for the healthy and steady development of institutions engaged in microfinance.
The Association for Research and Social Studies (ASIES) has published a study on the essential institutional strengthening of microfinance in Guatemala, with its own data and references it reports from the Secretariat for Economic Integration (SIECA) on "The Importance of the Micro Financial Sector in Central America ".