Economy

• Wednesday, May 9th 2012 - 07:50 UTC

  Gold becomes Peru’s main export item in the first quarter of 2012

  

  Peruvian gold sales totalled 2.57 billion dollars in the first quarter of this year, making the commodity the country’s top export, the National Mining, Petroleum and Energy Society, SNMPE, announced.

• Wednesday, May 9th 2012 - 07:39 UTC

  Argentina slaps huge fine on Spanish mobile phone service

  

  Argentina has fined Telefonica 43 million dollars for a mobile phone service interruption last month, which threatens to further exacerbate tensions between the two countries.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 22:37 UTC

  China buying oil from Iran using the Yuan, reveals Teheran ambassador in UAE

  

  China is buying crude oil from Iran using its currency the Yuan, an Iranian diplomat has said. Oil transactions are usually settled in dollars but US sanctions make it difficult for Iran to accept payments in the US currency.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 17:17 UTC

  Brazil’s Rousseff sees in Hollande an ally to counter Merkel’s austerity policies

  

  Dilma Rousseff is interested in having French elected-president Francois Holland make an official visit to Brasilia to talk about the current world situation since the Brazilian leader believes they both share positions regarding the global crisis and austerity policies.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 16:53 UTC

  Chile’s inflation slowed to its lowest level in seven months in April

  

  Chile's consumer price inflation slowed to the lowest level in seven months in April, data released by the National Institute of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 06:27 UTC

  Peru and Colombian presidents busy looking for trade and investments in Asia

  

  Two South American presidents accompanied by several ministers and business delegations will be spending this week in Asia promoting trade and investment and looking to consolidate links with the world’s second largest economy and the fastest growing continent.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 06:19 UTC

  Spain expected to announce strong support for the ailing banking system

  

  Spain's prime minister says the government will likely present this week new measures to help banks, a key source of worry over whether the country might need a financial bailout.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 02:06 UTC

  Mercosur “needs to be reborn” with an honest integration spirit, says Cardoso

  

  Brazilian former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso said that Mercosur “needs to be reborn but with a real integration spirit among its members” leaving behind such ambitions as the mirror of the European Union.

• Monday, May 7th 2012 - 17:28 UTC

  EU ready to cut trade benefits to Argentina because of YPF; warns the region on growing protectionism

  

  European Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht expressed concern Monday over what he called a “growing tendency towards protectionism across Latin America” and warned Europe is preparing retaliation measures against Argentina after YPF expropriation

• Monday, May 7th 2012 - 05:43 UTC

  Latam-Asia trade expanding at an annual rateo f 20.5%, reaching 442bn in2011

  

  Trade between Asia and Latin America reached 442 billion dollars in 2011 growing at an annual rate of 20.5% in the last twelve years according to a joint report from the Inter American Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank.