LatinFinance Announces Winners of the 2014 Infrastructure

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Sep 16, 2014) -

LatinFinance Infrastructure Finance Award Winners, 2014:

The Infrastructure Finance awards recognize the standout deals funding infrastructure in Latin America & the Caribbean. The winners of LatinFinance's 2014 Infrastructure Finance Awards demonstrate how capital markets can best be used for financing these projects. Some have pioneered new financing structures; others have overcome extensive complications to reach a close, or made creative use of development bank support.

The awards have been selected by LatinFinance's editors after close examination of information provided by market participants, interviews with people in the industry, and research of publicly available information on the projects.

Colombia's José Darío Uribe Escobar named LatinFinance's 2014 Central Bank Governor of the Year:

The past year has forced all Latin American central bank governors to think harder than ever about how to balance the need to support growth with their duty to keep inflation in check. In this difficult environment, José Darío Uribe Escobar, governor of Colombia's central bank, Banco de la República (BanRep), has walked the tightrope most convincingly.

LatinFinance's 2014 Central Bank Governor of the Year José Darío Uribe is recognized for his decision to hike rates early, anticipating a strong rebound in economic growth in the Andean nation, and his well-timed intervention in the foreign exchange markets to push down the value of the peso against the dollar.

Colombia raised rates by a full percentage point, to 4.25%, between April and July, in a move which -- despite having taken the market by surprise -- has since been widely praised by analysts. The strength of economic activity and the rise in inflationary expectations in recent months in Colombia have "vindicated" the central bank's decision to start the interest rate hiking process early, experts say.

"Thanks in part to BanRep's foresight, Colombia's strong policy framework has put the economy in a strong position to temper inflationary pressures and withstand external headwinds," said LatinFinance Editor-in-Chief Taimur Ahmad.

The economy grew at an annual rate of 6.4% in the first quarter, ahead of 5.3% in the previous quarter.

"We clearly expressed that we began the hiking cycle with enough anticipation to ensure a gradual adjustment process. Undue delays in this regard could imply excessive volatility of interest rates and output, as aggregate demand pressures may build up and inflation expectations could become unanchored" Uribe said in an interview with LatinFinance. "We cannot control the external environment, but we can control our framework," he said.

Full details on the Central Bank Governor of the Year Award, including additional comments from José Darío Uribe, available here.

For more information please contact Marina Carbone at:
Marina.Carbone@LatinFinance.com or +1 (212) 224-3440.
Follow coverage follow LatinFinance on Twitter @LatinFinance

About LatinFinance
LatinFinance is the leading source of value-added financial markets intelligence for Latin America and the Caribbean.

As the volume of information on the region grows, our role of cutting through the clutter to identify events of immediate significance and lasting importance to Latin America and the Caribbean becomes ever more vital. LatinFinance is the essential provider of news and analysis that cannot be found anywhere else.

Published from New York and Miami, with a network of correspondents across Latin America and the Caribbean, LatinFinance has covered banking and capital markets in the region for more than two decades. It is the authoritative source on debt, equity, structured finance, syndicated loans, private equity and M&A, as well as multilateral financing, people moves and secondary trading. For more information please visit www.latinfinance.com.

LatinFinance Announces Winners of the 2014 Infrastructure Finance Awards and Names Colombia's Jose Dario Uribe Escobar Central Bank Governor of the Year

Related Links