Economy

• Friday, August 27th 2010 - 07:48 UTC

  End of subsidized cigarettes for elderly Cubans

  

  Cuba's elderly will no longer be entitled to state-subsidised cigarettes, the government has said. All Cubans 55 or older are allocated four packs of cigarettes a month for about 25% the normal price, but this privilege is being ended in September.

• Thursday, August 26th 2010 - 03:24 UTC

  With strong farm sector recovery Paraguay economy forecasted to grow 9%

  

  Paraguay raised its 2010 economic growth forecast to 9% from 6% on an improved agricultural production outlook, the central bank said this week. This would be the Paraguayan economy largest annual expansion in almost three decades.

• Thursday, August 26th 2010 - 03:04 UTC

  Brazil forecasted to harvest smallest orange crop in eight years

  

  Orange growers in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, will harvest the smallest crop in at least eight years after rains hindered flowering, said Margarete Boteon, a University of Sao Paulo researcher.

• Thursday, August 26th 2010 - 00:51 UTC

  Uruguay committed to Mercosur, but also to greater world diversification

  

  While Uruguay supports the regional trade group Mercosur, “we are also trying to diversify the economy more to other parts of the world” said central bank president Mario Bergara during his recent visit to meet investors in New York.

• Wednesday, August 25th 2010 - 04:18 UTC

  Violence in some Latin American countries is an “epidemic” says OAS

  

  Organization of American States (OAS) chief José Miguel Insulza, said that the violence in some Latin American countries with high homicide rates can be compared to an “epidemic.”

• Wednesday, August 25th 2010 - 04:11 UTC

  US sales of existing homes plunge 27% in July, lowest level in ten years

  

  Sales of existing homes in the US plunged 27.2% in July compared with June to their lowest level in more than 10 years, figures suggest. Home sales completed in the month stood at an annualised rate of 3.83 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

• Tuesday, August 24th 2010 - 05:27 UTC

  Uruguay confident in recovering investment grade “within one or two years”

  

  Uruguay whose credit rating was cut to junk in 2002, expects to return to investment grade within two years, central bank President Mario Bergara said. “We are confident that in one or two years we will have investment grade again,” Bergara said at an investors’ conference in New York Monday.

• Tuesday, August 24th 2010 - 05:07 UTC

  Russia admits crop loss of 38%; self sufficient in 2010 but no reserves for 2011

  

  Russia has enough grain to cover its domestic needs after harvesting this year 38% less than the previous crop, a senior official said Monday. However markets believe Russia could be forced to import several million tons to ensure grain reserves until the following 2011 harvest

• Tuesday, August 24th 2010 - 03:40 UTC

  Uruguay’s wool clip forecasted to drop 20%: less sheep and extreme weather

  

  Uruguay’s wool clip is forecasted to drop 20% in 2010/11 because of a fall in the number of sheep and extreme weather conditions that will represent a loss of almost a kilo of wool per head, according to Alvaro Fossati, president of a sheep farmers association.

• Monday, August 23rd 2010 - 22:09 UTC

  Brazil assures fearful Bolivia it will keep purchasing natural gas

  

  Brazilian government managed energy giant Petrobras said Bolivian natural gas will remain important for energy-hungry Brazil, where demand for that fuel is expected to triple over the next four years, Bolivian daily La Razon reported.