Chile Elections : 101 Guide

On Sunday, Chileans will vote for a new president, as well as for all the seats in the lower house and half of the Senate . According to polls, Jeannette Jara , from the Communist Part y representing the center left coalition , and José Antonio Kast , a right-leaning candidate from the Republican Party, are favored to advance to the second round on December 14. It is unlikely that any candidate will receive 50% of the valid votes needed to win the presidency in the first round . Since the two candidates with the next highest support, Johannes Kaiser and Evelyn Matthei, are from the far right and center right, respectively, polls suggest that voters will likely favor Kast over Jara in a second round. Therefore, Kast has the highest probability of winning the presidential election in the second round . Polls indicate that right- and center-right parties will hold the majority in both chambers of Congress . If this scenario materializes, Chile will likely adopt pro-market policies. This could trigger a moderate rally in asset prices. In the remainder of the note, we discuss the likely economic policies of José Antonio Kast and their short-term market implications. Finally, we provide information about the election in a Q&A format.