Spain’s economy is forecasted to contract in the first quarter of 2012 after shrinking in the previous six months admitted Economy Minister Luis de Guindos confirming analysts’ expectations that the Euro zone fourth largest economy is already in recession.
China has seen an improvement in a key measure of manufacturing, boosting optimism that steady economic growth will continue into 2012. The purchasing managers' index rose to 50.3 in December from 49 in November, the statistical office said. A reading of more than 50 shows expansion.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy have said they will meet next week to discuss the Euro zone debt crisis. Their first meeting of 2012 comes after all EU countries except the UK agreed to work together on a new treaty to stabilise the Euro zone.
Inflation in Venezuela during last year reached 27.6%, which is 0.7 percentage points more than in 2010, according to a preliminary report from Venezuela’s central bank. President Nelson Merentes said that the consumer prices index “was associated to the upwards pressure generated on wholesale prices by a greater dynamism from domestic aggregate demand”.
Paraguay’ Livestock Sanitary Office has confirmed the isolation of a cattle farm in the north of the country where an apparent outbreak of foot and mouth disease has been reported. The farm is approximately 35 kilometres from the outbreak reported last September.
In spite of a slight gain in the last trading day of 2011 the Brazilian stocks benchmark index experienced an 18.1% decline in the twelve months on concerns that Europe's debt troubles could lead to another global recession.
Brazil's government may cut as much as much 60 billion Reais (32 billion dollars) from spending in 2012 in an effort to control its deficit and inflation, the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper reported, citing unnamed Finance Ministry officials.
Saudi Arabia's largest dairy company announced it was buying Argentine farm operator Fondomonte for 83 million dollars to secure access to a supply of animal feed. The acquisition will give Riyadh-based Almarai Co. control of roughly 30,000 acres of farmland just ahead of tough new limits to be imposed by Argentina's government on foreign ownership of productive land.
Argentina's economy should expand by 4.5% to 7.5% in 2012 according to the Central bank that also warned about the threat of the consequences of the Euro crisis. The bank’s latest approved monetary program states that the policies that have helped Argentina's economy boom over the last nine years will remain largely in place.
Peruvian fish exports generated during last October generated 206.2 million dollars which represents 42.1% more than in the same month of 2010 (145.1 million), while export volume jumped 42.8% from 89.200 to 127.400 tons, the Ministry of Production reported. The increases were primarily due to higher sales of fishmeal.