Bloomberg Línea Brasil reports that Latin America and the Caribbean went from 3 high income countries in 1987 to 19 in 2025 under the World Bank's updated classification, while large economies stay stuck in the middle income trap. Jonathan Fortun of the IIF said the region remains stubbornly middle income by population and that the World Bank threshold is a moving target. He also described Guyana as more an accounting leap than development and linked Bolivia's troubles to an exhausted fixed exchange rate regime.
Bloomberg Línea published this Spanish article on 2026-07-21. It mentions Jonathan Fortun in an IIF economics context. Read the original source for the complete reporting.
Marcello Estevão · Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
Statistical revisions could change the apparent path of US inflation, growth and productivity. A change in measuring financial services could lower core PCE inflation, while broader revisions expose difficulties in tracking a technology-intensive service economy. These measurement choices could influence Federal Reserve judgments about sustainable growth and interest rates, with consequences for Treasury yields, the dollar and emerging-market financing.
Foreign holdings of Mexican government debt rose in June 2026 as investors shifted toward bonds with longer maturities. The coverage cites Jonathan Fortun on the regional appeal of interest rate differentials, commodity exposure and investors’ familiarity with high real rates. Mexico’s restrictive monetary stance helped sustain demand for its bonds.
Reuters reports that emerging markets saw $46.1 billion in net foreign equity outflows in June, led by South Korea and Taiwan, even as bonds drew $28.3 billion. Jonathan Fortun, IIF chief economist, wrote in the monthly report that investors remain willing to lend to emerging markets but are less willing to add broad equity risk. He attributed the equity cuts to higher global discount rates, China uncertainty, weaker earnings confidence and tech and energy positioning.
Zonebourse (Reuters, French translation) · Quoted expert Original title: La Corée du Sud et Taïwan en tête d'un exode de 46 milliards de dollars sur les actions des marchés émergents en juin
Fortun explains the divergence between continued lending to emerging markets and reduced equity exposure, as selling in South Korea and Taiwan drives June's outflows.
Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
The July tracker reports a $17.8 billion net portfolio outflow from emerging markets in June: $28.3 billion of debt inflows were outweighed by $46.1 billion of equity withdrawals. Asian equity selling drove the overall result, while Chinese equities also became a drag. Strong sovereign issuance contrasts with the equity weakness. The note identifies a more hawkish Federal Reserve and renewed oil volatility as risks to dollar liquidity and emerging-market investment.
Fortun assesses Bolivia's new market-referenced official exchange rate and bank selling limits, asking whether the framework can clear the currency market or preserve rationing and parallel pricing.