Chile's country risk reaches new high

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NEW YORK.- Chile's country risk –measured as the spread paid on United States Treasury bonds according to the EMBIG index- has reached a new high: 374 base points, which is 9 points higher than Wednesday and 223 points higher that the closing value at the end of 2007.

The rest of Latin America is also facing a similar scenario: Mexico's risk (EMBI+) climbed 28 base points to 604; Peru +41 base points to 653; Brazil +17 base points to 688; Colombia +42 base points to 741; Uruguay (EMBIG) +169 base points to 876; and Ecuador +380 base points to 2,819.

The only countries that registered drops in the figure were Venezuela (-48 base points to 1,804) and Argentina (-27 base points to 1,878).

Yesterday, the 10 year Treasury Bond yield fell 8 base points to 3.534%.

According to JP Morgan, the risk for Chilean bonds with a 2012 maturity date has risen 26.73 base points to 276.76; and has climbed 22.89 base points to 267.85 for bonds maturing in 2013.