Economy

• Thursday, December 1st 2011 - 05:53 UTC

  US and EU stock soar following on central banks’ decision to provide dollars

  

  Global stocks and the Euro rallied on Wednesday after the world's leading central banks agreed to cut the cost for European banks to borrow much-needed dollars.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 23:08 UTC

  Brazil cuts basic rate by half a point to 11% and says inflation converging to target

  

  Brazil’s central bank cut borrowing costs by half a point for a third straight meeting as a global economic slowdown threatens with a slump in domestic demand. The bank’s board voted on Wednesday unanimously to reduce the benchmark Selic rate to 11% from 11.5%, as had been anticipated by markets.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 21:31 UTC

  Latam financial system ‘stable and solid’ but weak in consumer banking, says World Bank

  

  While the economic crisis relentlessly ravages Europe and the United States, Latin American countries anxiously wait on the sidelines. The crisis could dampen the regional trend of solid growth during the past decade.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 16:04 UTC

  China changes policy: eases credit and lowers bank reserves ratio

  

  China's central bank cut the reserve requirement ratio for its commercial lenders on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three years to ease credit strains and shore up an economy running at its weakest pace since 2009.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 09:04 UTC

  China becomes Peru’s main trade partner and a leading investor

  

  Peruvian Prime Minister Salomon Lerner said that China’s direct investments in the country would increase between 30% and 40% in the next two years. China became this year Peru’s main trade partner.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 06:03 UTC

  Improved transparency for IDB loan operations and activities

  

  The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) became a signatory of the International Aid Transparency Initiative, a voluntary, multi-stakeholder effort to make information about aid spending easier to find, use and compare.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 06:00 UTC

  Euro zone ministers looking to the IMF to help boost rescue fund

  

  Euro zone ministers agreed on Tuesday to ramp up the firepower of their rescue fund but couldn't say by how much and raised the possibility of asking the IMF for more help after Italy's borrowing costs hit a Euro lifetime high of nearly 8%.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 05:53 UTC

  S&P reduces credit ratings of big US/EU banks following overhaul of criteria

  

  Standard & Poor's reduced on Tuesday its credit ratings on several big banks in the United States and Europe as the result of a sweeping overhaul of its ratings criteria.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 00:55 UTC

  US Judge rejects settlement between Citigroup and Wall Street regulators

  

  US judge rejected this week a 285m dollars settlement between Citigroup and Wall Street's regulator, the SEC, over the sale of toxic mortgages.

• Tuesday, November 29th 2011 - 23:05 UTC

  Poverty in Latam at lowest level in 20 years; but 174 million are still below the line

  

  Poverty and indigence in Latin America and the Caribbean are at their lowest in twenty years according to the latest report from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC, released on Tuesday in Chile.