The U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to continue removing policy accommodation gradually and could hike rates three times this year, Dallas Fed President Robert S. Kaplan told a business conference in Frankfurt on Thursday.
United States handed this week a new visa to Argentina's ex foreign minister Hector Timerman, after having revoked the document almost a month ago. Current foreign minister Jorge Faurie was instrumental in obtaining the visa, according to Buenos Aires diplomatic sources.
In their latest monthly report, Conab (National Supply Company) increased their estimate of the 2017/18 Brazilian soybean crop by 1.2 million tons and they slightly increased their Brazilian corn estimate. Conab is now estimating the 2017/18 Brazilian soybean crop at 110.4 million tons which is 1.2 million tons more than last month's estimate (109.1 million tons). If realized, the 2017/18 crop would be 3.6 million tons lower than the 114.0 million tons produced last year (-3.2%).
The CEO of the European Tourism Association, ETOA, Tom Jenkins told Parliament that Brexit is already harming the inbound travel industry, damaging productivity and asked for assurances that hiring non-UK EU workers remains free from bureaucratic burdens, since language skills are particularly important in the industry.
Europe is once again a top travel destination for Americans. Five European countries, Italy, Ireland, France, Iceland and the United Kingdom, comprised half of the top 10 spots for vacation plans in 2018.
The Peruvian-Argentine consortium Kuntur Wasi said that it plans to sue Peru in an international arbitration court after failing to reach a deal with the government over the cancellation of its US$525 million Chinchero airport project.
The Bank of England has indicated that the pace of interest rate increases could accelerate if the economy remains on its current track. Bank policymakers voted unanimously to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5% at their latest meeting. However, they said rates would need to rise earlier and by a somewhat greater extent than they thought at their last review in November. Economists think the next rate rise could come as soon as May.
National Geographic has apologized to Tierra del Fuego governor Rosana Bertone for publishing in Instagram pictures identified as taken in the Falklands, instead of the Malvinas Islands. According to Ushuaia reports, aware of this situation, the Environment Secretary of Tierra del Fuego Mauro Pérez Toscani, on instructions from Ms Bertone addressed the National Geographic Foundation to express disappointment and demaning rectification of the Malvinas controversy.
Lower power tariffs pulled Brazil's inflation rate below the official target range and even the lowest of forecasts in January. Consumer prices tracked by the benchmark IPCA index rose 2.86% in the twelve months through January, government statistics agency IBGE said on Thursday.
Colombia and Brazil tightened border controls with Venezuela on Thursday as both nations grapple with a mounting influx of hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants fleeing a worsening economic crisis In a visit to the border region, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he would impose stricter migratory controls, suspend new daily entry cards for Venezuelans and deploy 3,000 new security personnel along the frontier, including 2,120 more soldiers.