Economy

• Friday, August 10th 2012 - 08:35 UTC

  Booming agriculture sees crop land prices in Brazil soar 18% in the past year

  

  Prices of Brazilian crop land have soared 18% in the past year, to judge by data from one of the country's biggest agricultural groups, which revealed plans to take sowings nearly to 300,000 hectares, according to Agrimoney.com.

• Friday, August 10th 2012 - 08:27 UTC

  Toyota opens third plant in Brazil and announces engine plant

  

  Toyota from Japan has inaugurated its third plant in Brazil that aims to produce 70,000 cars a year. The facility, located 90 kilometres west of Sao Paulo in Sorocaba, will begin producing Etios compact cars next month, with engines imported from Japan.

• Friday, August 10th 2012 - 07:49 UTC

  Brazil reminds Paraguay that Itaipu power is jointly shared and managed

  

  Brazil reminded Paraguay it can use the power it needs from the giant Itaipu hydro but there is a contract which regulates how to manage the surplus. A day earlier president Federico Franco said that Paraguay would not “yield” any more electricity to Brazil.

• Friday, August 10th 2012 - 07:35 UTC

  FAO warns countries against a repeat of the 2007/08 food prices crisis

  

  The world could face a food crisis of the kind seen in 2007/08 if countries restrict exports on concerns about a drought-fuelled grain price rally, the UN food agency FAO warned, after reporting a surge in global food prices in July.

• Friday, August 10th 2012 - 07:21 UTC

  Argentine private agencies July inflation 1.76% and 24.13% in twelve months

  

  Argentine opposition lawmakers presented on Thursday July’s inflation index based in the analysis of nine private agencies, which showed a 1.76% increase against the previous month and doubles the official index from the government of President Cristina Fernandez.

• Friday, August 10th 2012 - 07:03 UTC

  Falklands, an “excellent investment destination” for the oil industry

  

  The Falkland Islands Government has welcomed the news of a farm-in agreement between Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd and US based Noble Energy which was announced on Monday and confirms the Falklands as an “excellent investment destination”.

• Thursday, August 9th 2012 - 06:47 UTC

  For Argentine unions, food basket inflation is 52% higher than the official index

  

  Argentine organized labour CGT, announced that based on their own analysis of the products that make up the basic food basket, on average they are 52% more expensive than those analyzed by the official statistics office, Indec

• Thursday, August 9th 2012 - 06:38 UTC

  Chilean inflation flat in July; accumulates 2.5% in the last 12 months

  

  The Chilean consumer price index showed no variation in July in contrast to the surprise 0.3% drop in June, as increases in food and non-alcoholic drinks offset falls in clothing, footwear and utilities, according to the national statistics agency INE.

• Thursday, August 9th 2012 - 06:33 UTC

  Venezuela inflation slows down for seventh month running: 19.4% in last 12 months

  

  Venezuela's annual inflation slowed for a seventh straight month in July, coming in below 20% for the first time in years. Finance Minister Jorge Giordani said annual inflation to July was 19.4% percent, below the 20 to 22% estimated in the government's budget for this year.

• Thursday, August 9th 2012 - 06:29 UTC

  Venezuelan currency overvalued by 83% according to the Big Mac index

  

  The Big Mac index computed by The Economist showed that the Venezuelan Bolivar is the most overvalued currency worldwide with respect to the US dollar, reflecting the imbalance of the Venezuelan economy.