Economy

• Friday, May 4th 2012 - 00:36 UTC

  ECB calls on governments to put “growth at the centre of the agenda”

  

  The European Central Bank, meeting in Spain on Thursday, held interest rates at historic lows but insisted it was up to governments to find ways of boosting growth without busting fiscal rules.

• Friday, May 4th 2012 - 00:31 UTC

  Bank of England governor admits more should have done to prevent the crisis

  

  After coming under fire for years for refusing to accept responsibility for the crisis, Bank of England governor Mervyn King said in his BBC Today Program Lecture that the BoE should have done more -- but added that the bank's hands had been somewhat tied.

• Friday, May 4th 2012 - 00:26 UTC

  BG selling lucrative asset in Brazil to focus on oil and gas fields

  

  UK gas producer BG Group has announced a deal to sell its stake in Brazil's Comgas to Sao Paulo-based Cosan for 1.8bn dollars. BG said it expected to deal to be completed by the end of the year.

• Thursday, May 3rd 2012 - 23:23 UTC

  FDI in several Latam countries during 2011 marked a historic record

  

  Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, in Latin America and the Caribbean during 2011 reached 153.448 billion dollars, which represents 10% of the global total flows according to a report presented on Thursday by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.

• Thursday, May 3rd 2012 - 07:19 UTC

  Brazil working on package to further lower interest rates without scaring savers

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff plans to unveil changes to rules related to savings accounts on Thursday, government sources said, a key move to pave the way for lower interest rates in Latin America's largest economy.

• Thursday, May 3rd 2012 - 07:04 UTC

  French poultry processor in Brazil in talks to sell local subsidiary

  

  Brazil’s meat giant JBS is the most likely buyer of a local subsidiary owned by a French poultry processor, according to news reports.

• Thursday, May 3rd 2012 - 06:57 UTC

  Remittances from Mexicans abroad climbed 5.3% in first quarter over a year ago

  

  Remittances from Mexicans living abroad climbed 5.3% in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2011, Mexico’s central bank said on Wednesday.

• Thursday, May 3rd 2012 - 03:06 UTC

  “The Scream” sets new record as most expensive work of art at 120 million dollars

  

  Norway’s Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream,” one of the world's most recognizable works of art, sold for 120 million dollars at Sotheby’s on Wednesday, setting a new record as the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction.

• Thursday, May 3rd 2012 - 03:00 UTC

  Brazil’s April trade surplus at its lowest in a decade, as imports soar to new record

  

  Brazil’s trade surplus narrowed to its smallest in a decade for the month of April as imports jumped to their highest level on record for that period. In April the trade surplus fell to 881 million dollars from a surplus of 2 billion in March and 1.86 billion a year earlier.

• Thursday, May 3rd 2012 - 02:25 UTC

  New worldwide Halal certification scheme for the food industry

  

  Cert ID Europe, the leading certification business has joined forces with the Hijaz Group to form the Halal Authority Board (HAB) www.haboard.com, which will offer a new worldwide benchmark for Halal certification for the food industry.