MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico and Peru’s popularity among foreign investors means they are among the emerging market economies most exposed to losses when the United States finally moves to take its foot off the monetary accelerator.

History shows that when U.S. interest rates jump – widely anticipated when the Federal Reserve begins reducing its $84 billion a month bond purchases – new foreign investment in Peruvian and Mexican financial assets drops by almost two-thirds.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Brazil’s move to drop a tax on foreign buying of its domestic bonds removes a major hurdle for foreign investors and enhances the country’s appeal, a senior portfolio manager with bond giant PIMCO said on Wednesday.

Michael Gomez, co-head of emerging markets at Pacific Investment Management Co, said removing the 6 percent levy on foreign transactions was an “unequivocal positive” for Brazil, which put the tax in place to discourage speculative capital.

BRASILIA/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Brazil should further hike the rate of return on its infrastructure projects if it wants to tap into a limited pool of global capital coveted by regional peers, Mark Ramsey, head of Latin America for Macquarie Capital, said on Friday.

The Australian bank, one of the world’s biggest managers of infrastructure investments, is interested in electricity generation, road, port, airport, railway and real estate projects in Latin America’s biggest country.

May 24 (Reuters) – Latin America should suffer just a short,
sharp shock to its financial markets when the U.S. Federal
Reserve starts to taper its super easy monetary policy as
investors remain convinced of the region’s solid economic
prospects and are attracted by its high-yielding assets.

Investors are coming around to the idea that when the Fed
begins slowing the money printing presses and buys fewer bonds,
it will be because the policy has succeeded in getting the U.S.
economy to grow in a sustainable way. That growth should buoy
global demand and help sales of Latin America’s key exports.