Economy

• Tuesday, May 29th 2012 - 04:02 UTC

  Spain calls on Europe for a show of force “to dissipate any doubts about the Euro”

  

  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called for a show of force from European authorities as his government sought ways to avoid tapping markets to fund the bailout of the nation’s third-biggest lender.

• Tuesday, May 29th 2012 - 00:14 UTC

  Dollar restrictions target money of ‘non-declared origin’ argues Argentine Senator

  

  Argentine Senator and former cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez strongly defended on Monday restrictions imposed by the government on dollar purchases arguing it would be “suicidal” to return to a flexible scheme which he insisted was implemented in defence of “the interests of Argentina”.

• 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 - 17:10 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 - 07:53 UTC

  How do you remove and relocate half a million hogs? Chile is trying

  

  How do you move and relocate half a million hogs? That is the challenge faced by Chilean sanitary authorities following the closure of the country’s largest pig farm forced after months of complaints from protesting neighbours about the persistent odours and infested waters.