US House of Representatives has passed by 269 votes to 161 a last-gasp deal to avoid a federal debt default. The bill is expected to be approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Salaries in Argentina averaged an increase of 27.6% in the last twelve months to June, boosted mainly by agreements in the private sector, reported Monday the country’s National Statistics Institute, Indec.
Brazil’s trade surplus more than doubled in July from a year ago fuelled by higher commodity prices in spite of the over-valued Super Real that is having an impact on manufactured goods exports and promotes the import of ‘cheap’ products.
Brazil’s car production capacity is expected to jump from the current 3.6 million units per year to 6.2 million by 2025 supported by massive investments from the industry estimated in 19 billion dollars by 2017, according to estimated from the Vanzolini Foundation in Sao Paulo.
The Brazilian Real is the world's most expensive currency and is 149% overvalued against the dollar and the Colombian peso, the next most expensive currency is 108% above the US currency, according to British magazine The Economist, which has created a new version of the Big Mac index.
Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, in Uruguay was record in 2010 with 2.35 billion dollars (47.8% higher than in 2009) according to the latest report on global investment from the UN Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD. FDI represented 30.5% of total gross investment in Uruguay last year.
US manufacturing grew at its slowest pace in two years in July as new orders contracted, a troubling development for the faltering economy. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity fell to 50.9, the lowest level since July 2009, from 55.3 in June.
The Nobel Prize winner economist Paul Krugman harshly criticized President Barack Obama for giving in to pressure compromising on a debt ceiling deal that defenders say will save the country from default.
President Barack Obama announced Sunday Republican and Democratic leaders have reached an agreement on raising the US debt limit and avoiding default. He said the deal would cut one trillion dollars of spending over 10 years, and set up a committee to report by November on a proposal to further reduce the deficit.
The Uruguayan Peso is 17.4% over-valued against the US dollar according to the Big Mac index from The Economist which means the greenback should be trading in Montevideo money markets at 21.62 Pesos and not 18.25 Pesos as currently happens.