Emerging markets brace for 2019

Latin America’s two biggest economies start 2019 with new populist presidents while six other emerging market economies face elections which could further dampen investor confidence


Jan: Brazil’s right-wing Jair Bolsonaro faces tough challenge with reforms to social security and pensions that could slash welfare payments by half

Jan: Mexico’s leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has investors on edge after cancelling
$13 billion airport deal and pledging to review oil-block auctions

Feb: Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari faces demands from generation of under-30s that never experienced benefits of nation’s oil boom

Feb: Thailand faces potential social unrest if General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s military junta holds on to power in south-east Asia’s second-largest economy

Apr/May: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s loss of three heartland states in December could lead to coalition government and derail economic reforms

Apr: Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (right) has lead over rival Prabowo Subianto, but his nationalization of foreign-owned oil and gas has made investors wary

May: South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa must win weighty majority, or face more capital
outflows due to stagnant economic growth, according to IMF report

Oct: Argentina’s Mauricio Macri could face former populist President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner after he sought $56bn IMF bailout to support economy


Sources: Bloomberg, Ozy 
Pictures: Associated Press, Getty Images
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