The International Monetary Fund urged Uruguay to focus policies on securing “a soft economic landing” amid a surge in capital inflows to emerging economies and higher commodity prices.
China's appetite for luxury goods fuelled a record year for sales and profits at world industry No. 1 LVMH, (Louis Vuitton) prompting boss Bernard Arnault to say the market had entered a new growth cycle.
Paraguay recovered full status of “country free of foot and mouth disease with vaccination” following the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) decision to lift the “high vigilance zone” over 1.2 million cattle.
Brazil’s trade surplus fell more than economists expected in January from a month earlier as exports declined at a faster pace than imports. The surplus narrowed to 424 million USD last month from 5.37 billion in December, said the Trade Ministry.
Brazil’s industrial output unexpectedly fell for a second straight month in December. Output in December fell 0.7% from November after a 0.2% decline in the previous month, the national statistics agency IBGE said this week.
Argentina’s attempts to return to global credit markets nine years after its 2001/02 default received this week mixed results. New York Federal Judge Thomas Griesa has issued a ruling urging Argentina to pay 54.33 million Euros (US$75.1 million) to the Capital Ventures International Fund.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will discuss with her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama ways to counteract the threat posed by an undervalued Yuan and cheap imports from China, a Brazilian official said.
The US economic recovery still needs help from the Federal Reserve despite signs of improvement, the central bank's chairman Ben Bernanke said.
France and the U.N. food agency FAO warned on Friday about the risk of a new global food crisis and ensuing riots, calling for greater regulation to curb speculation on commodities markets.
The European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht will travel next week to Paraguay and Uruguay to reinforce bilateral relations and to advance on the ongoing EU/Mercosur negotiations to reach an overall trade and cooperation agreement.