Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s start 2006 facing charges of running a duopoly – and some tough questioning. Their only hope? To come up with a solution before the US government imposes one.

A fourth consecutive year of economic growth would be remarkable, but a US slowdown could spoil the run.

Banco Mercantil
Gustavo Marturet, President

Henrique de Campos Meirelles, governor of Brazil’s central bank, has made the rebuilding of foreign currency reserves a priority. Interview by Brian Caplen.
Q Brazil is more stable than it has ever been before. How has this been achieved?
A Brazil is engaged in a very serious economic stabilisation programme involving an inflation-targeting monetary regime and a free-floating exchange rate.

Brazil’s banks are grappling with the new challenges of operating in a stable climate. Brian Caplen reports.

Ten years after volcanic ash forced an abandonment of the island’s capital, the Bank of Montserrat is opening a new headquarters. Hugh O’Shaughnessy reports.

Alan Greenspan may have left his successor a legacy of policy credibility but with it comes an economy that is worse for wear.

...great things can come, as microfinance pioneer Banmujer shows. Hugh O’Shaughnessy reports from Caracas on how the tiny bank aimed at poor women is attracting international attention and emulation.

With profits healthy, private banks seem happy to play ball with their ideological nemesis, president Hugo Chávez. Jane Monahan reports from Caracas.

Argentina’s economic revival is building confidence in its ability to clinch investment grade in a few years’ time. Jason Mitchell reports from Buenos Aires.