IMF-G20/PACIFIC ALLIANCE Latin America Pacific Alliance countries meet in Lima during IMF annual meeting

Record ID: 135067

  • Title: IMF-G20/PACIFIC ALLIANCE Latin America Pacific Alliance countries meet in Lima during IMF annual meeting
  • Date: 9th October 2015
  • Summary: LIMA, PERU (OCTOBER 9, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF REPORTERS LISTENING TO NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Peru
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAJZ7CZ9EQVRBTPU7L7XLJIECP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Latin America's Pacific Alliance countries gathered in Lima, Peru on Friday (October 09) on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group annual meetings.
    During the meeting the four member countries reviewed achievements and discussed progress in regional financial integration.
    "During these times of great volatility and challenges in international markets, the four countries of the Pacific Alliance share a vision of macroeconomic public policy that gives priority value to prudence and stability," Mexico's Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said.
    Peru's Finance Minister Alonso Segura added that while the four countries were working together, they were also taking on individual tasks that would help uniform practices.
    "We are working on a common agenda but, additionally, we are also individually advancing in the countries to adopt measures of good practices in other countries so we can have a wider homogeneity," Segura said.
    In June, the four countries expanded the Integrated Latin American Market (MILA) with a focus on increasing the compatibility of public offerings of shares and bonds. One of the topics discussed at the IMF meeting was speeding up mechanisms for public offerings of stock, bond and derivatives within the block so more institutional investors can participate as pension funds.
    "The topic regarding any actions in any of the four countries of the region being open to institutional investors from any of the other countries is a very important step forward. It is very practical in the next step for financial integration that we are all in search of," said Chile's Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdes.
    Colombia's Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas said the fundamentals of each country's economy were strong.
    "We are economies, we are countries who over the years have constructed very solid bases that permit us to confront very volatile times and some of the turbulence from the international markets," he said.
    The four countries of the Pacific Alliance also stated that the current context of sharp decline in prices of raw materials exported represents a major challenge for the bloc, which represents about 35 percent of gross domestic product in Latin America.
    MILA is based on an agreement signed by the countries' stock exchanges and began operating in 2011. Mexico joined in December of 2014.
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