The capital markets of South America’s smallest countries have still not developed much beyond the issuance of government bonds. Among the region’s small economies, only Uruguay and Bolivia have active corporate bond markets. The capital markets of Paraguay, Guyana and Suriname are dominated by government debt.
Franklin Nieder, senior financial economist at the Inter-American Development Bank, says: "Guyana is a highly indebted country and relies heavily on international donors. It has a significant local-currency debt market but a very limited secondary market. There is a tiny amount of trading of government paper.
"There is no corporate bond issuance and the stock exchange is very small. Private pension funds are the main holders of government debt.
"On the other hand, Suriname is not nearly so indebted. A lot of...
