BOGOTA, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Colombia’s central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady on Friday after six straight hikes, citing concerns turbulence in global financial markets could hurt economic growth in the Andean country.

As fears mount that the developed world is shifting from slow growth to no growth, emerging markets seem to many economists better placed to weather the storm.

“Right now what we have is a very strong level of uncertainty, but in spite the fact the the global economy has slowed, it is still growing,” Jose Dario Uribe, general manager of the central bank, told reporters.

“The increased uncertainty in international financial markets and its possible effect on the growth of the global economy, that was a key element (to maintain the benchmark interest rate at 4.50 percent),” he said.

Analysts had been divided over whether the bank would hike its key interest rate or hold it at 4.50 percent, a Reuters poll showed earlier this week. [ID:nN1E77G13Y]

Colombia’s central bank was one of the last in Latin America to start upping rates. It has faced pressure from the government to stop tightening monetary policy, as Chile and Peru have done. [ID:nN1E77H0WW] [ID:nN1E77A21B]

Many emerging markets have been grappling with the dilemma of whether to raise rates to combat inflation and risk stoking strong currencies.

BOGOTA, Aug 12 (Reuters) – At least one Colombian central bank board member was against an interest rate hike at last month’s meeting saying additional rate raises could bring in more inflows and push up inflation, minutes showed on Friday.

Colombia’s seven-member central bank board raised its benchmark interest rate for a sixth straight time on July 29 by 25 basis points to 4.50 percent in a move widely expected by markets although the decision was yet-again not unanimous.

Despite dissent on the policy making board, analysts expect Colombia’s central bank to continue its tightening cycle to prevent overheating in Latin America’s fifth largest economy. For July decision story, see [ID:nN1E76R254]

The minutes said “another member” was against the hike although they did not say if there were more than one. At the previous meeting in June, one member voted to keep rates steady while another one said that hike should be the last.

“Further increases would attract greater flows and credit supply, which may further impede the transmission of monetary policy. So we could end up fueling what we want to control: inflation,” the minutes showed the member as reasoning.

“What is now appropriate is the adoption of macroprudential regulation measures in concert with the government.”

Analysts say macroprudential measures could mean tighter banking regulations such as an increase in reserve requirements or placing restrictions on indebtedness abroad or portfolio investment.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Beatles fan Gerardo Weiss ran a typical Buenos Aires barber shop until he had a dream that the Fab Four dropped in for a haircut.

Seven years later, Weiss has made Beatles-inspired cuts his specialty.

“The dream got etched on my memory,” he said at the modest salon, the walls plastered with photos of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

“I decided to get rid of the pictures these places usually have and just put up photos of The Beatles … so people could see them and ask for their haircuts,” he said.

One picture shows Lennon cutting someone’s hair, another is of Harrison with curly locks down to his shoulders. It is the stuff of inspiration for Weiss.

“My favorite Beatles’ haircut is the one Paul McCartney had in ’74, when he was doing the Band on the Run tour … it was short on the sides and longer at the back,” said Weiss, whose eight-year-old son is called Lennon.

“When my wife got pregnant I prayed to God for a son, so I could pay homage to John,” he said as “Hey Jude,” with Lennon strumming on a guitar, played in the background.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – When Argentina’s president revealed last month on live television she would run for re-election, her accompanying announcement offered “TVs for All”.

The initiative, which aims to help thousands of Argentines buy flat-screen TVs with low-cost loans, is part of President Cristina Fernandez’s plan to maintain brisk consumer spending and court lower-income voters before an October 23 election.

“TVs for All” accompanies sister initiatives “Beef for All” and “Fish for All,” in which food trucks supply reasonably priced steaks and hake to poorer parts of the capital where high inflation is eroding purchasing power.

The programs are meant to curb skyrocketing consumer prices in Latin America’s third largest economy. They have won praise from lower-income Argentines who are prepared to wait in sometimes long, slow lines for subsidized goods.

Private economists and opposition politicians dub the initiatives as populist election ploys that will have little effect on double-digit inflation.

The government has not disclosed the cost of the programs. Some in the opposition say they will mainly benefit food businessmen with close ties to the ruling Peronist party.

“We want to reach every single home,” Fernandez, who has a wide lead in opinion polls, said as she announced “TVs for All”.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – A cloud of ash spewing from a Chilean volcano caused chaos for air travelers in South America again on Monday and grounded flights as far away as New Zealand and Australia, stranding thousands of passengers.

Two airports serving Argentina’s capital and the main international airport in Uruguay were closed late on Sunday over safety fears sparked by the ash cloud, which has stretched some 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles).

“All flights have been canceled … according to the weather forecast, the ash will continue affecting (flights) for the rest of the day,” said Nelson Rosano, head of operations at Uruguay’s Carrasco airport.

A volcano in Chile’s Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain erupted 10 days ago, belching ash eastward and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of local and international flights.

The chaos hit airlines including Chile’s LAN and Brazil’s TAM and Gol, which halted services to and from Buenos Aires.

Despite the disruption, airports reported little turmoil, as most affected passengers found out about the flight cancellations before heading to the airport.

In Argentina’s southern Patagonia region, the volcanic ash closed roads and schools, blanketed a ski resort and turned an Andean lake a deep charcoal gray color.

QUITO (Reuters) – When Ecuador first asked richer nations for $3.6 billion in exchange for not tapping oil from the Yasuni Amazon reserve, it did not foresee the credit crisis worsening in Europe or unrest in Arab countries.

OPEC-member Ecuador says that by not extracting the heavy oil under the Yasuni national park, some 400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide will not be released into the atmosphere and a jungle area with more tree species than North America will be better protected.

Launched in mid-2010, the Yasuni project was lauded by foreign governments and environmental groups as an innovative way to fight global warming.

But Ecuador’s government is struggling to turn that excitement into hard cash given tough international realities.

“There’s been a delay, but that doesn’t mean there’s no willingness to endorse the initiative,” Ivonne Baki, the Heritage Ministry official in charge of the project, told Reuters, referring to ongoing talks with countries including France and Norway.

The German government helped design the project, but “tough” negotiations over a long-term donation have not yet yielded an agreement, Baki said.

“The global economic crisis is part of the problem, and in Europe things are worse… Especially in Germany which has to help out Greece, Portugal and Ireland,” Baki said.

QUITO, June 1 (Reuters) – A judicial shake up, negotiations with mining and oil companies, tensions with the police and a spat with the United States are some of the main risks to watch in Ecuador in coming months.

REFERENDUM REFORMS

President Rafael Correa won a May 7 referendum on 10 reforms aimed at overhauling the justice system and limiting media ownership, as well as rules banning activities such as bull-fighting and gambling in casinos.

The reforms will give Correa and his allies a bigger say in the appointment of Supreme Court judges in the OPEC-member nation. His critics say he will use the changes to tilt the judiciary in his favor. [ID:nN18250318]

Support for the reforms was at the lower end of the 53 to 62 percent forecast by opinion polls before the referendum. Opponents says this shows waning middle-class support for left-wing Correa.

Three of the ten reforms have to be ratified by Congress, and some analysts think the ruling Alianza Pais political coalition will face an uphill battle to win support for them since it does not have a congressional majority.

Correa named new interior and justice ministers soon after the vote and appointed a close advisor to a three-person panel that will have 18 months to carry out a “complete overhaul” of the justice system and appoint judges to the Supreme Court.

QUITO, May 12 (Reuters) – Vote counting in Ecuador showed President Rafael Correa heading for a referendum victory on Thursday after he accused electoral officials of delaying the tally in pro-government regions.

Correa, an ally of Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo Chavez, had already declared victory after the vote on Saturday when polls and a quick count gave him a clear lead in the referendum on ten reforms that will give him more power over the judiciary and media in the South American OPEC nation.

But a sluggish official tally by the National Electoral Council initially indicated two key questions were facing rejection by voters and slim support for the others.

By Thursday, though, official counting showed all the reforms being endorsed.

“The ‘Yes’ vote has won in the 10 questions and it has won by a wide margin,” Correa told reporters, while conceding that early polls showing an overwhelming victory had been wrong.

“We’re happy because we’re having a clear electoral victory, and the opposition is also happy because they expected a heavier defeat. We’re all happy,” he said.

With 67 percent of ballots counted, pro-Correa “Yes” votes on the questions ranged from 44 to 49 percent, while the “No” vote was between 41 and 44 percent.

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador President Rafael Correa’s weekend referendum win is cast as an unsettling power-grab by opponents but may actually pave the way for smoother relations with foreign investors whom he has squeezed in the past.

The leftist Correa has had tempestuous ties with foreign investors since he took office in the small but resource-rich Andean nation in 2007. He has accused some companies of pillaging resources, corruption and pollution.

Like ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Correa alienated some oil investors by forcing them to give the state more control over operations and a bigger share of revenues.

Brazil’s Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) pulled out last year after refusing to sign a less-profitable contract, and in 2009 Ecuador took control of oil fields operated by Perenco, after accusing the French company over a tax dispute.

Correa’s seeming poll win — pending official confirmation at a slow vote-count — increases his power over judges’ appointments and enables him to keep checks on media.

Critics say the reforms threaten the balance of power in the OPEC-member country, but analysts do not believe it heralds another tilt at foreign investors.

“It decreases the likelihood of any radical policies because he doesn’t need to rally that kind of national support,” said Eurasia Group analyst Risa Grais-Targow.

QUITO, May 8 (Reuters) – President Rafael Correa vowed a shake-up of Ecuador’s courts after a referendum seemed to strengthen his grip on the OPEC member nation while heightening foes’ fears of autocratic rule.

Ballots being counted into Sunday showed the leftist leader ahead on all 10 reforms he put to Ecuadoreans in a referendum that is seen as an early indicator of Correa’s prospects in a possible 2013 re-election bid in the Andean country.

With 20 percent of ballots counted, the ‘Yes’ vote’s range for the questions was 45 to 51 percent compared with 39 to 44 percent for ‘No’.

But even before complete results, Correa declared victory, opposition leaders accepted defeat and government supporters began celebrating a few hours after voting ended on Saturday.

“We have to make big changes in the next 18 months. We’re going to face the opposition of mafias within the judiciary,” said Correa, 48, whose declared intention with the referendum was to eradicate corruption and inefficiency in courts.

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Full coverage of Ecuador’s referendum [ID:nECUADOR]