Economy

• Thursday, November 29th 2012 - 22:23 UTC

  Brazil calls on Argentina to integrate and consolidate world’s fifth largest economy

  

  The presence this week of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff next to Cristina Fernandez at Argentina’s Industrial Union, UIA annual conference was considered a major integration success and highlights the growing interaction of the two leading Mercosur partners.

• Thursday, November 29th 2012 - 14:00 UTC

  Brazil ends cuts and keeps key interest rate unchanged at 7.25%

  

  Brazil's central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 7.25% on Wednesday, ending a series of cuts since last year, as the world's sixth largest economy tries to contain inflation.

• Thursday, November 29th 2012 - 06:50 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez described Argentina as the ‘counter model’ of IMF and the world’s masters

  

  President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner ratified on Wednesday that Argentina will continue to pay all its financial obligations and described as “absolutely unfair” the ruling from Judge Thomas Griesa who favoured the hedge funds to the detriment of 93% of bondholders who joined the 2005 and 2010 debt swaps.

• Thursday, November 29th 2012 - 06:42 UTC

  Argentina increases 44% wellhead natural gas prices to attract investment

  

  Argentine president Cristina Fernandez announced on Wednesday that wellhead natural gas prices are to rise substantially from current levels, an estimated 44%, with the purpose of attracting more investments and increasing production.

• Thursday, November 29th 2012 - 00:31 UTC

  Argentina saved from a ‘technical default’; court case continues February 27

  

  A US appeals court on Wednesday granted an emergency stay order that gives Argentina more time to argue against making a 1.33 billion dollars payment to investors who rejected two debt restructurings in the nation's 2002 sovereign debt default.

• Wednesday, November 28th 2012 - 21:50 UTC

  Chile and Mexico among the best performing members of OECD in next two years

  

  Chile and Mexico will manage to a great extent to avoid the negative prospects from OECD members in the next two years. The half year report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development anticipates a serious weakening of activity in the Euro zone, the US and Japan, but the two OECD Latinamerican members as well as emerging power Brazil will have a contrasting performance.

• Wednesday, November 28th 2012 - 16:42 UTC

  EC 37bn Euro check for Spanish banks but 50% of branches must go and hair cut for bond holders

  

  The European Commission gave on Wednesday the go ahead for Spain to overhaul its stricken nationalized banks and opened the door for nearly 40 billion Euros in Euro zone aid to be disbursed, offering hope for an end to Spain's banking crisis.

• Wednesday, November 28th 2012 - 05:37 UTC

  Fitch downgrades Argentina’s credit rating fearing ‘probable default’

  

  Fitch Ratings agency announced on Tuesday it has downgraded Argentina's long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating from “B” to “CC,” with a negative outlook, as it sees a “probable default” if the country misses its payment to holdout investors.

• Tuesday, November 27th 2012 - 22:18 UTC

  Mixed bag for Noble Energy: oil in Gulf of Mexico and plugged well in the Falklands

  

  Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) unveiled a discovery in the Big Bend exploration area in the Gulf of Mexico as it also abandoned another well off the shore of the Falkland Islands that yielded a low-quality reservoir.

• Tuesday, November 27th 2012 - 21:11 UTC

  Lack of political leadership threatens the global economy warns OECD

  

  Global growth is set for a sharp slowdown next year and the Euro zone debt crisis “remains the greatest threat to the world economy at present,” the OECD warned on Tuesday. In its latest Economic Outlook the OECD also cautioned that “the risk of a new major contraction cannot be ruled out” after a global slump in 2009.