Economy

• Wednesday, October 6th 2010 - 02:19 UTC

  IMF says financial system remains “Achilles heel of global recovery”

  

  Progress to restore global financial stability has suffered a setback in advanced economies, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest Global Financial Stability Report, with markets still sensitive to negative surprises.

• Wednesday, October 6th 2010 - 02:15 UTC

  IMF chief admits danger of “currencies as a policy weapon”

  

  Countries risk undermining the global economic recovery if they use their currencies to try to boost domestic growth, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday in a newspaper interview.

• Wednesday, October 6th 2010 - 00:13 UTC

  Fed and ECB “flood of liquidity” plunging the world into “chaos” warns Stiglitz

  

  The policies of extremely low interest rates maintained by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are plunging the world into chaos instead of helping with the recovery of the global economy, the winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, Joseph Stiglitz, said on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, October 5th 2010 - 23:32 UTC

  “Disaster risk” and potential economic losses in 17 Latam countries

  

  Latin America and the Caribbean face potentially crippling economic and social costs from natural disasters and need to do more to reduce risks and prepare government finances to respond to eventual catastrophes, says a new set of indicators by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

• Tuesday, October 5th 2010 - 23:20 UTC

  Brazil doubles tax on foreign investors buying local bonds and fixed return assets

  

  Brazil doubled this week the tax on foreign investors buying local bonds or making deposits in fixed returns in an attempt to curb a currency rally that has turned into an issue in the country's presidential race.

• Tuesday, October 5th 2010 - 22:50 UTC

  Latin America poised to grow 5.5% to 6% this year, says IDB

  

  Latin America is poised to expand between 5.5% and 6% this year based on the sustained improvement of commodities pirces, productivity gains and domestic market expansion, said the president of the Inter American Development Bank, IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno.

• Monday, October 4th 2010 - 22:40 UTC

  Zoellick calls for the reinstatement of emergency food aid program

  

  World Bank president Robert Zoellick expressed concern about the renewed speculation with agriculture commodities which in the last months have seen prices of food in developing countries soar

• Monday, October 4th 2010 - 22:38 UTC

  World Bank sees “currency devaluations” tensions and “bubble” risks

  

  World Bank President Robert Zoellick said he sees tensions arising from currency devaluations as nations seek to boost their economies, though he doesn’t expect them to turn into “wars.”

• Monday, October 4th 2010 - 03:53 UTC

  Uruguay’s debt/GDP ratio down after five quarters running increases

  

  Uruguay’s gross public sector debt contracted in the second quarter of the year after five consecutive periods of sustained increase and now stands at 21.885 billion US dollars equivalent to 59.5% of GDP.

• Monday, October 4th 2010 - 01:19 UTC

  Spain on the steps of the Argentine crisis of 2001, warns Stiglitz

  

  Spain could face a crisis similar to that of Argentina back in 2001 because of its incapacity to create jobs and reduce the fiscal deficit, which makes it an easy prey for international speculators.