
The farmers’ strike which has been taking in place in Argentina for the past week ended on midnight Sunday but the leaders have warned that members of the relevant rural entities will meet in two weeks, to discuss further measures and that they do not rule out another strike. The current measures had put a halt to the sale of grains.

The dynamics of the past few months regarding the price of oil, prime materials and food stuffs, worryingly reminds us of what happened to the world economy mid-2008. At the time the sky high price of oil – which reached U$147 a barrel - and the food crisis caused havoc.

Figures released by the Venezuelan Ministry of Energy and Petroleum said the average price of crude oil sold by Petroleras de Venezuela (PDVSA) rose this week to U$ 86.79 up from U$ 85.987 last week.

To have low unemployment is something most countries would be proud of and not moan about. However, in Uruguay unemployment is at an all-time low of 6.1% and is causing concern among economists, human resource companies and businesses, reports the BBC.

The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the number of unemployed in the UK has increased by 49,000 to 2.5 million, with a record number of young people out of work.

Brazil’s Central Bank has increased its key interest rate to 11.25% in the hope of halting inflation. The rate has gone up from 10.75% and is the first under the Government of President Vilma Rousseff, who came in to office earlier this month.

Economic activity in Argentina increased 8.2% during 2010 and in December grew 9.3% compared to the previous year, a private report says.

Argentine farmers threatened to go on strike for a second time this year if the government does not change their policy towards them. At a meeting in Buenos Aires province city, Bahia Blanca, farm workers leaders met to discuss the week-long strike, which began last Monday. Farmers have stopped the sale of wheat, corn and soybean over export curbs.

Figures in Brazil show that 2.52 million new jobs were created last year, the Brazilian Labour Ministry reported.

The UK's Standard Chartered will focus on serving Latin American clients in segments requiring direct access to Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the bank's head of private banking in the Americas, John Leto, told BNamericas, saying he plans to double its private banking assets in the region in two years.