The European Central Bank should not hike interest rates aggressively and wait for stronger Euro zone growth before increasing rates after this week's expected move, OECD head Angel Gurria said on Monday.
Canada’s Scotiabank announced it has closed the transaction to purchase Nuevo Banco Comercial S.A. (NBC), Uruguay's fourth largest private bank in terms of loans and deposits. The acquisition was announced on December 6, 2010. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Brazil's state development bank, BNDES, is lending to companies at the lowest rate relative to the country's benchmark in two years, undercutting President Dilma Rousseff's efforts to curb inflation, revealed the Sao Paulo financial press.
The authorities in Cuba have released more details of their plans to allow people to buy and sell their cars and homes for the first time in 50 years. The new laws will open up a private property market and enable Cubans to buy any car they can afford.
Euro zone finance ministers have approved a 12 billion euro instalment of Greece's bailout, but signalled that the nation must expect significant losses of sovereignty and jobs.
BNDES bank will not put up the 2.4 billion US dollars it pledged for the merger of Brazil's biggest retailers, Grupo Pao de Acucar and France's Carrefour, unless France’s Casino is on board, bank president Luciano Coutinho said in a local magazine.
“You can vote for Cristina (Kirchner) with your pocket, your heart or with your mind” because the Argentine economy has advanced in all fields, said the country’s Economy minister and vice President candidate for next October election, Amado Boudou.
Uruguay has raised its 2011 economic growth forecast to 6% and its inflation to 7.8%, according to a government document published on Friday. The previous estimate was 4.5% and full year inflation of 6%.
Central bank president Mercedes Marcó del Pont defended on Friday Argentina’s current economic policies, particularly efforts to address the international crisis arguing that “cooling the economy or letting the currency appreciate only aggravates the crisis”.
Finance Minister Felipe Larraín advanced efforts to integrate the Chilean and London stock exchanges during a recent visit to the United Kingdom. A delegation of government officials and business leaders accompanied the minister on his trip to promote foreign investment in Chile.