Economy

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 06:21 UTC

  Argentines would like to buy at “official” inflation and be paid in real inflation

  

  According to Argentina’s statistics office Indec consumer inflation was 0.7% pushed mostly by the cost of clothing. However private economic consulting offices estimate the index was double the official announcement.

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 06:13 UTC

  Argentine central bank purchases 500m dollars to stop appreciation of the Peso

  

  The Argentine Central bank has purchased so far this week 500 million US dollars to ensure that the country’s exporters retain a favourable exchange rate and importers are not that tempted to buy foreign goods.

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 06:09 UTC

  “Grain prices are more linked to the US dollar than to food demand”

  

  “Saving in US dollars or in soybeans is the same” cautioned Argentine economist Carlos Melconian, who argued that “grain and oilseed prices are more linked to the value of the dollar than to demand for food produce”.

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 06:04 UTC

  China forecasted to become Latin America’s second trade partner by 2015

  

  China will become Latin America's second largest trade partner as early as in 2015, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said this week.

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 05:54 UTC

  Italian parliament does its homework and approves sweeping austerity budget

  

  Italy's upper house of parliament has agreed to a sweeping austerity budget in a move intended to allay concerns over a possible bailout. Meanwhile, Greece must come to terms with another ratings downgrade.

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 02:08 UTC

  S&P warns of a “one in two” chance of downgrading US debt rating

  

  Standard & Poor's has become the latest ratings agency to issue a warning of a possible downgrade to the US's debt rating. It said there was a “one-in-two” chance that it may cut the US's AAA rating if a deal to raise the government's debt ceiling is not agreed upon soon

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 22:53 UTC

  Global economic prospects fragile and downside risks higher, says IMF

  

  The International Monetary Fund called on emerging G-20 economies for a rapid macroeconomic policy tightening and demand rebalancing, while “pragmatic use of macro-prudential tools may be needed to manage large capital inflows”.

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 22:18 UTC

  IMF assessing quality of Argentina’s economic data reporting

  

  IMF said on Wednesday that it is assessing the quality of Argentina's reporting on economic data based on a report presented by the fund’s management which recently visited the country member.

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 22:09 UTC

  Brazil has a “North Sea of oil” along its Atlantic coast, says Petrobras

  

  Brazil’s oil reserves, including recent discoveries in deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean, are of a similar size to those found in the North Sea, said a Petrobras exploration official in an interview in London.

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 22:01 UTC

  Fitch upgrades Uruguay ratings on improved external and fiscal solvency ratios

  

  Uruguay had its foreign currency issuer default rating raised to BB+ from BB by Fitch Ratings, which cited improved external and fiscal solvency ratios. The rating outlook was revised to stable from positive.