Economy

• Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 00:53 UTC

  South Korea and Brazilian lawmakers committed to expand links with Mercosur

  

  Parliamentary leaders of South Korea and Brazil agreed Monday in Seoul to put forth efforts to promote economic ties between the two nations in the framework of Mercosur, through closer interactions at the parliamentary level.

• Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 00:44 UTC

  Euro aid package for Portugal approved but private bond holders also involved

  

  Euro zone finance ministers approved Monday a three-year, 78-billion Euro emergency loan program for Portugal and said Lisbon would ask private bondholders to maintain their exposure to its debt.

• Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 00:38 UTC

  Overwhelming majority of Chileans reject hydroelectric project in Patagonia

  

  Opposition to the HydroAysén dam and power line project grew throughout Chile this past week in the wake of massive demonstrations protesting the project’s approval on Monday May 9 in southern Chile.

• Monday, May 16th 2011 - 15:51 UTC

  Brazil justifies import licences for the auto sector, and insists they are not targeted on Argentina

  

  Brazilian Development, Industry and Foreign Trade minister Fernando Pimentel justified trade barriers imposed last week on the import of cars, a measure which was strongly criticized by the Argentine government.

• Monday, May 16th 2011 - 05:02 UTC

  Beijing promises more trade and investments but Argentina must respect Chinese exports

  

  China Trade Minister Chen Deming promised to further increase bilateral trade with Argentina which last year reached 13.5 billion US dollars but also asked for reciprocity regarding China’s exports.

• Monday, May 16th 2011 - 03:24 UTC

  Sarkozy: no support for EU/Mercosur trade deal that cuts farmers’ income

  

  French president Nicholas Sarkozy stressed over the weekend he would not accept an European Union-Mercosur trade agreement that could mean a loss of income for European farmers.

• Monday, May 16th 2011 - 03:14 UTC

  Brazil, India current account deficits leads to ‘inevitable’ crisis warns China

  

  China will be able to avoid a financial crisis that is due to hit other developing countries over the next five to 10 years a central bank adviser was quoted as saying on Saturday.

• Monday, May 16th 2011 - 03:07 UTC

  US inflation slowed down during April to 0.4% from 0.5% in March

  

  Inflation in the United States slowed in April, mainly due to smaller price rises in fuel and food. Consumer prices rose 0.4% in April, having risen 0.5% in March, according to figures from the Labour Department.

• Monday, May 16th 2011 - 03:01 UTC

  China again hikes banks reserves requirements, fifth time this year

  

  In an attempt to cool inflation China’s Central bank raised banks’ reserve requirements for the fifth time this year. The half-point increase takes effect May 18 and will boost levels for China’s biggest lenders to a record 21%.

• Sunday, May 15th 2011 - 15:00 UTC

  Geithner warns of catastrophic consequences if US debt limit is not raised

  

  With the US government about to hit its 14.3 trillion US dollars debt limit, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has warned of “catastrophic” consequences and a new recession if Washington is not able to borrow more.