
The British Ministry of Defence is facing hundreds of millions of pounds in cuts - including the closure of at least one RAF base - as it struggles to balance its books, it was reported.

Brazil and Argentina are currently discussing the possibility of reducing the number of products subject to the so called non automatic import licences which has been obstructing bilateral trade and causing a rift between Mercosur’s largest partners.

The Brazilian economy expanded 1.3% in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the previous quarter according to the official release on Thursday from the country’s statistics office, IBGE.

In the latest step to finish with outstanding debt problems and return to markets, the Argentine government officially allowed issues of new bonds to be swapped for defaulted government paper.
Spain has had its credit outlook cut to negative from stable by the ratings agency Standard & Poor's. The agency said Spain faced a deeper deterioration in public finances and a longer period of economic weakness than it had previously expected.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has announced that the 700 billion US dollars financial bail-out fund will be extended until October next year.

The Bank of England has held UK interest rates at the record low of 0.5% in a widely-expected move. It also announced no changes to its program of pumping newly-created money into the economy - so-called quantitative easing (QE).

United Kingdom Chancellor Alistair Darling was warned he must find £36 billion in new spending cuts if the British Government is to meet its commitment to halve the budget deficit over the next four years.

The United States trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in October as exports rose to their highest level in almost a year, official figures have shown. The deficit fell to 32.9 billion US dollars, 7.6% lower than September's downwardly revised 35.7 billion

Brazil’s central bank kept the benchmark Selic interest rate at a record low for the third straight meeting as inflation remains below target. The bank’s eight-member board, led by President Henrique Meirelles, voted unanimously on Wednesday to keep the overnight rate at 8.75%.