Colombia, Venezuela: Latin America Bond, Currency Preview

By Andrea Jaramillo

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The following events and economic reports may influence trading in Latin American local bonds and currencies today. Bond yields and exchange rates are from the previous day's session.

Chile: The central bank will publish minutes of its Aug. 14 meeting at 8:30 a.m. New York time. Policy makers lifted the target lending rate by a half-percentage point at each of the last three monthly meetings, bringing it to 7.75 percent.

The peso climbed 1 percent to 514.73 per dollar.

The yield for a basket of five-year peso bonds in inflation-linked currency units, called unidades de fomento, rose 4 basis points to 2.91 percent, according to Bloomberg composite prices.

Colombia: Banco de la Republica will publish minutes of its Aug. 15 meeting. The central bank left its key lending rate unchanged at 10 percent, a seven-year high.

Colombia's jobless rate likely fell to 11.5 percent in July from 11.7 percent the previous month, according to the median estimate of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The national statistics agency is set to announce the unemployment figures at around 11 a.m. New York time.

The peso slipped 1 percent to 1,92 per dollar, from 1,900.90 yesterday, according to the Colombian foreign-exchange electronic transactions system, known as SET-FX.

The yield on Colombia's benchmark 11 percent bonds due July 2020 fell 24 basis points to 11.25 percent, according to Colombia's stock exchange.

Venezuela: The government is considering plans to repurchase debt, as well as the possible issuance of new securities, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said yesterday at a news conference.

The bolivar weakened 5 percent to 4.05 per dollar in the black market from 3.85 yesterday, traders said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Jaramillo in Bogota at ajaramillo1@bloomberg.net