
Ecuador's inclusion on an international list of nations accused of lagging in the fight against money laundering is a hypocritical punishment for its relations with Iran, Ecuador's president said during his weekly television address.

Germany’s Finance Ministry said on Saturday it has no specific plans for helping Greece combat its deficit crisis, denying a magazine report that euro-area governments may offer as much as 25 billion Euros in aid.

The US Federal Reserve poured cold water on speculation that a surprise hike to its emergency lending rate signalled a change in monetary policy, saying borrowing costs in the economy would remain low.

Argentina’s Central bank new authorities rejected orthodox recipes as a way to fight rising consumer prices anticipating they will focus on helping companies boost output as private economic analysts forecast inflation ranging between 20 and 30% this year after having reached 15% in 2009.

The Greek Prime Minister has admitted there is a fear of contagion as his nation battles its debt crisis. George Papandreou also insisted his country was not looking for a banking-style bailout and denied that his people were reckless.

Argentina’s Economy Minister Amado Boudou and Central Bank Governor Mercedes Marcó del Pont announced the appointing of the Council of Exchange, Financial, Economical and Monetary Politics.

President Barack Obama has set up a taskforce to tackle the growing US budget deficit.
The body will report back by the end of the year on what steps need to be taken to get the deficit down to 3% of GDP.

The United State Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy Thursday for the first time in more than a year, raising by 0.25 percentage points the discount interest rate at which the US central bank lends directly to commercial banks.

Argentines expect consumer prices to rise 31.1% over the next 12 months, led by higher forecasts from the lower income category, according to the average estimate in a poll from Torcuato Di Tella University.

A consumer group had called on Argentines, world leaders in beef consumption, to boycott the meat for a week in an effort to lower prices, according to news reports from Buenos Aires.