Economy

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 05:17 UTC

  Emergency loans to Ireland total 85 b Euros, conditioned to draconian budget cuts

  

  EU and IMF have extended 85bn Euros of emergency loans to the Republic of Ireland, according to reports on Irish state television. The widely anticipated bail-out package comes after a day of sharp falls in global share prices and the Euro.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 00:57 UTC

  Spain feeling Irish contagion: extra yield on bonds hits Euro-area high

  

  Spain said it doesn’t need to adopt further austerity measures to stem a surge in borrowing costs as the central government’s budget gap narrowed by almost half.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 00:54 UTC

  The Fed cuts US economy growth estimate for 2011 and ups unemployment

  

  The Federal Reserve has cut its 2011 growth forecast for the US economy, newly released minutes of its last policy committee meeting reveal. The Fed expects growth of 3-3.6% next year, down from its previous 3.5-4.2% estimate. It also forecasts higher unemployment and lower inflation than before.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 00:51 UTC

  Currency appreciation pressures inevitable until US controls budget deficit

  

  Fast-growing emerging markets would be facing currency appreciation pressures even without the US quantitative easing policy, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in an interview on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, November 23rd 2010 - 23:02 UTC

  FDI in Brazil soars in October; reaches 30 billion USD in ten months, the year’s target

  

  Foreign direct investment in Brazil soared to 6.8 billion US dollars in October, the highest for the month since records were started. This was higher than last month with 5 billion and four times October a year ago with 1.6 billion, according to the latest release from the central bank.

• Tuesday, November 23rd 2010 - 19:23 UTC

  US economy grows faster than estimated in the third quarter: 2.5%

  

  US economy grew faster than previously estimated in the third quarter, government data showed, but still not enough to address stubbornly high unemployment. GDP growth was revised up to an annualized rate of 2.5% from 2% as exports together with consumer and government spending were stronger than initially thought.

• Tuesday, November 23rd 2010 - 19:16 UTC

  Argentina requests IMF technical aid to help with a new prices index

  

  Argentina’s Economy minister Amado Boudou announced Tuesday that the President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's administration is to request aid from the International Monetary Fund to help with a new price index.

• Tuesday, November 23rd 2010 - 04:30 UTC

  Rio Grande in south Brazil geared to become “Mercosur hub and main port”

  

  Rio Grande in the south of Brazil has rapidly become the main competitor of the port of Montevideo based on a sustained expansion, deep dredging, the construction of new piers and update equipment.

• Tuesday, November 23rd 2010 - 04:28 UTC

  Irish PM will call early election after austerity budget is passed

  

  Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen defied mounting pressure to quit and announced Monday he would stay in office until parliament passed an austerity budget needed to secure an IMF/EU bailout and then call an early election.

• Tuesday, November 23rd 2010 - 03:30 UTC

  Trichet: don’t blame the Euro; it’s a solid currency in historical terms

  

  European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet Monday sought to reassure investors on the resilience of the Euro-zone as Ireland's formal request for financial assistance from the bloc sparked nervousness on European credit markets.