Argentina

• Tuesday, August 7th 2012 - 17:13 UTC

  Argentine supermarkets must keep records of clients that spend plus 210 dollars

  

  Argentine supermarkets must keep records of sales of plus 1.000 Pesos which must be available to tax inspectors, according to the latest decision from AFIP the tax revenue office. A thousand Pesos at the official rate is equivalent to 210 dollars and in the parallel 140 dollars.

• Tuesday, August 7th 2012 - 17:06 UTC

  Argentine foreign currency credit cards included in the strict dollar “clamp”

  

  Credit card companies operating in Argentina have also fallen under the net work of the tax office AFIP, and now must request authorization and approval to purchase US dollars to balance their clients’ accounts.

• Tuesday, August 7th 2012 - 08:33 UTC

  Uruguay reacts with silence to repeated Argentine provocations

  

  The Uruguayan government said on Monday there will be no public statements on the latest “situations” with Argentina, and Uruguay will keep to what was agreed at presidential level during the last (31 July) Mercosur extraordinary meeting in Brasilia.

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 22:02 UTC

  Dollar deposits and loans erosion in Argentina as restrictions become stricter

  

  The strict and tightening US dollar purchase restrictions imposed in Argentina were clearly exposed in the banking system dollar deposits and loans during the last week of July when they dropped 3%, having accumulated 43% in the last few weeks, according to official data from the central bank.

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 08:07 UTC

  Ex-president says inclusion of Venezuela in Mercosur is “favourable for Uruguay”

  

  Former president Jorge Batlle (2000/2005) said that the inclusion of Venezuela in Mercosur “is favourable for Uruguay” but at the same time insisted it was “wrongly done” for not having taken into account Paraguay’s opposition currently suspended as member of the regional block.

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 07:54 UTC

  Venezuela will help YPF explore for hydrocarbons in fields next to the Falklands

  

  Venezuela’s government oil corporation, PDVSA, in considering with Argentina’s YPF exploring for oil and gas in the area next to Falkland/Malvinas waters, revealed the president of the corporation and Minister of Petroleum and Mining.

• Monday, August 6th 2012 - 07:47 UTC

  Argentine industry lobby blast devaluation but demand more competitiveness

  

  Argentine Industrial Union head José Ignacio de Mendiguren says he wholeheartedly agrees with President Cristina Fernández criticism to those who back a devaluation of the Peso, in an interview with Ambito.com.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 22:29 UTC

  Chile expects a 30% increase in cruise vessel calls this 2012/13 season

  

  Chile is expecting an increase of 30% in the number of cruise vessels calls this coming season with Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas receiving the most, said the country’s Under Secretary for Tourism Jacqueline Plass.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 19:24 UTC

  Falkland Islands’ assessing options for the expansion of port facilities

  

  Falkland Islands port facilities are under assessment given the prospects of oil industry activities in the near future and two options are being considered by the local government: a new port project, and an interim development of the current facilities at FIPASS.

• Saturday, August 4th 2012 - 05:00 UTC

  YPF and PDVSA advance in the energy strategic alliance; next meeting in Caracas

  

  Argentina and Venezuela gave their first step in the creation of an energy strategic alliance between oil companies YPF and PDVSA, after the agreement signed by President Cristina Fernández and her Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, in Brasilia last Tuesday.