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For someone who lists the presidency of the Institute for the Development of Eucalyptus Applications on his CV, Jorge Armindo Teixera is remarkably personable. The main achievement listed on that CV is his position as the president and CEO of Portucel - Portugal's leading pulp and paper manufacturer and the country's best hope for a privatization in 2003.

Jose Isidro Camacho, secretary of finance of the Philippines, is a former investment banker - he was Deutsche Bank's country head in the Philippines from 1999-2001. He talks to Euromoney's Chris Cockerill about what the Philippine government must do to regain the market's trust.

Pension fund shortfalls have come to the fore as new accounting requirements and credit rating agencies factor them in to assessments of corporate health.

Oil prices have helped cushion the effects of slack global growth for many energy exporters. Asian and European growth is accelerating but there are wide regional variations and the World Bank warns that the world economy may well slide into recession.

A series of problems for other retailers seemed set to spoil the show for Metro when it issued in January. In the event it attracted e11.1 billion of support from euro investors. Then came Ahold.

Privatization looked to be the answer to Portugal's widening budget deficit but poor market conditions have stymied it. The government, though, has cut costs and boosted revenues, with favourable capital market effects.

There can't be many countries where the finance ministry gives visiting journalists an information pack including a graph entitled "Social protest events during 2002". Such events are helpfully defined as "crowd concentrations, mobilizations, blocking highways and downtown streets, partial and total strikes, takeover of establishments, and so on." Apparently the number of such events has fallen from over 2,000 a month in the first four months of the year to fewer than 1,000 a month since June.

For luxury goods company Richemont, whose brands include watchmakers Jaeger-LeCoultre and Baume&Mercier, raising money was not a priority. It did, though, have a delicate timing problem. It owned 27.7% of British American Tobacco. But it also held just over 120 million convertible preference shares into BAT due to mature in June 2004 with a redemption price of 675p. If, at maturity, the shares were trading below 675p, Richemont would redeem the bonds and receive £820 million in cash. However, if the share price rose and the bonds converted, Richemont would go above the upper holding limit under the UK takeover code and be obliged either to launch a full bid - which it did not want to do - or become a forced seller.

IN NOVEMBER 2001, a 73-year-old businessman defeated an anti-US ex-president to lead a troubled central American country. The news was celebrated in the US, but more because Daniel Ortega had lost again than because of any hopes surrounding Enrique Bolanos. What no one-expected was that Bolanos would turn out to be something of a revolutionary himself, embarking on a crusade to clean up Nicaraguan politics and rehabilitate his country not only in the eyes of the world, but, more important, in the eyes of its own citizens.

Following three years of disappointing earnings - and plummeting stock prices - leading Greek banks hope 2003 will be a turnround year. Their hope is based on a firm foundation absent elsewhere in Europe: strong loan growth underpinned by a growing economy and a largely under-leveraged household sector. Tapping that customer base should finally boost their bottom line.

The new euro-denominated 30-year bond market found natural buyers in insurers with long-term liabilities. But when the market broadened into a rush, things rapidly went wrong.

Roberto Lavagna is that rarest of breeds in Argentina: a popular politician. As finance minister he has put the economy on a steady growth course as elections approach.