Economy

• Tuesday, July 5th 2011 - 05:44 UTC

  Toyota Mercosur temporarily closing plants due to lack of parts

  

  Toyota, the world's biggest automaker said Monday it will temporarily halt work at factories in Brazil and Argentina due to the lack of parts from Japan after the massive March quake and tsunami.

• Tuesday, July 5th 2011 - 05:36 UTC

  Spain next candidate to request major aid package, say London bookies

  

  Following the second rescue of Greece, Spain is the next candidate to request a major financial aid package according to William Hill one of the largest bookmakers in the United Kingdom.

• Tuesday, July 5th 2011 - 03:23 UTC

  June’s index shows result of Uruguay’s battle with inflation remains uncertain

  

  Uruguay consumer prices increased 0.35% in June, completing 8.61% in the last twelve months, which remains above the Central bank target of 4% to 6%, and the latest estimate of 7.8% presented last week by the Executive in its additional budget report to Congress.

• Tuesday, July 5th 2011 - 00:24 UTC

  Mercosur attempt to implement a common trade defence policy ‘won’t be easy’

  

  Mercosur idea of a common trade defence policy has been present since the nineties but the initiative is difficult to implement because agreeing on a joint safeguard does not necessarily meet the demands of different interests, according to a leading economist from Brazil’s Getulio Vargas Foundation, GVF.

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 19:18 UTC

  EU/Mercosur launch ‘timid’ sixth round of trade negotiations in Brussels

  

  Mercosur/European sixth round of negotiations to reach a wide ranging cooperation and trade agreement took off Monday in Brussels, but rather timidly with no immediate prospects of an exchange of proposals for market access.

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 18:05 UTC

  Redefining ‘default’ so that private banks can roll over Greek debt

  

  Ratings agency Standard and Poor's warned on Monday that efforts to bailout Greece involving private banks could amount to a debt default even as Brussels sees progress being made in resolving the crisis.

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 18:00 UTC

  OECD warns the Euro Central Bank about ‘aggressive’ hike of interest rates

  

  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.

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 05:20 UTC

  Canadian bank concludes purchase of Uruguay’s fourth largest private bank

  

  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.

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 05:12 UTC

  Brazilian government continues to subsidize loans to big corporations

  

  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.

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 04:54 UTC

  Government promises Cubans will be allowed to buy and sell their cars and homes

  

  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.