Stories for May 28th 2012

Monday, May 28th 2012 - 23:12 UTC
Mercosur raises maximum allowed tariff, 35% on 100 imported goods, says Brazil

Brazil raised to the maximum the common external tariff, AEC, that Mercosur charges on imported goods from out of the zone. The decree was published in Monday’s edition of the Official Gazette and includes a hundred goods.
Monday, May 28th 2012 - 19:56 UTC
Santander denies plans to divest from Brazil; affiliate represents 30% of the group’s profits

Spain’s leading bank Santander denied any plan to sell its Brazilian affiliate full or partly, as was published in the Sao Paulo media following discussions with Bradesco, another top listed Brazilian bank.
Monday, May 28th 2012 - 19:16 UTC
Spanish King on high profile PPRR visit to recover “lost time and ground” in South America

Spain’s King Juan Carlos will be travelling to Brazil and Chile in the first week of June to strengthen ties with two strategic associates and in preparation of the Ibero-American summit to take place in Cadiz. The King will be accompanied by Foreign Affairs minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo and a business delegation.
Monday, May 28th 2012 - 17:58 UTC
Falklands’ remembrance service in Gosport to honor 3 Islanders and 255 killed in action

Veterans, next of kin, local authorities and special guests attended on Sunday a remembrance service for the 30th Anniversary of the Falklands conflict in Gosport, overlooking Portsmouth harbour.
Monday, May 28th 2012 - 17:10 UTC
Brazil pressing banks to lower loan rates by 30% and increase lending

Brazilian banks must lower their lending rates by between 30% and 40%, and increase lending, without raising fees, to help spur economic growth, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said in an interview with the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.
Monday, May 28th 2012 - 16:59 UTC
Brazil has a plan to bolster subsidized credit to increase corporate investment

Brazil has a plan to bolster subsidized credit aimed at increasing corporate investment with 45 billion Real (approx 22.5 billion dollars) from the country’s development bank, BNDES.
Monday, May 28th 2012 - 16:52 UTC
British drinks group buys cachaça distillery in Brazil as it expands to emerging markets

British drinks group Diageo is buying a maker of Brazil's most popular spirit, cachaça for about 470 million dollars, boosting its expansion in fast-growing emerging markets while it fights for a bigger prize in tequila.
Monday, May 28th 2012 - 16:36 UTC
Brazil “better prepared” for the current global crisis which will be “softer”

Finance minister Guido Mantega said that Brazil has double the reserves when the 2008 global recession and is prepared to confront a deepening of the European crisis but admitted that the economy would expand below 3.5% which is less than was targeted at the beginning of the year.
Monday, May 28th 2012 - 16:32 UTC
Hague-Garcia-Margallo to address Gibraltar fishing incidents and border queues

Gibraltar figures importantly on the agenda for a Tuesday meeting scheduled in London between Foreign Secretary William Hague and Spanish counterpart Jose Garcia-Margallo particularly following on the recent fishing incidents and the long queues being imposed at the border by Spanish authorities.
Monday, May 28th 2012 - 10:01 UTC
Reforestation of Chilean Patagonia takes off: 60.000 trees donated in first week

Planting the first of what it hopes will be a million trees, “Reforestemos (reforest) Patagonia” officially launched a campaign that will restore large swathes of Chilean Patagonia to pristine wilderness.