Economy

• Saturday, January 9th 2010 - 08:23 UTC

  Central Bank of Chile is releasing a new 10,000 Pesos note

  

  After 20 years in circulation, the current 10,000 Chilean peso bill will be replaced this coming year, courtesy of commercial banks.

• Saturday, January 9th 2010 - 08:08 UTC

  Surprise rise in US unemployment during December

  

  US employers unexpectedly cut 85,000 jobs in December, but the unemployment rate held steady at 10%, official figures have shown. The number of job losses was surprising, particularly after November's figures had been revised.

• Friday, January 8th 2010 - 13:01 UTC

  Excellent rain-timing anticipates record crops in Brazil of coffee and soy

  

  Brazil's coffee crop may beat the 48.48 million bag record this year, the country's crop supply agency said in a report which also raised forecasts for the newly-begun soybean harvest.

• Friday, January 8th 2010 - 08:11 UTC

  Mrs. Kirchner gets her way and will pay debts with Central bank reserves

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her cabinet signed Thursday a disputed decree removing Central Bank President Martin Redrado from office amid a fight over the use of bank reserves to pay debt due this year.

• Friday, January 8th 2010 - 08:08 UTC

  China surprise move to control liquidity sends markets plunging

  

  China's central bank surprised markets on Thursday by raising the interest rate on its three-month bills for the first time since August, intensifying its grip on liquidity a day after it promised to keep credit growth in check.

• Friday, January 8th 2010 - 06:48 UTC

  Latinamerica’s 2009 trade contracts 24% in value, the worst since 1973

  

  Latinamerica and Caribbean exports plunged 24% in value last year compared to 2008 because of the international crisis, according to the latest estimates from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, Cepal, released Thursday in Santiago de Chile.

• Friday, January 8th 2010 - 06:44 UTC

  New Japan Finance minister wants weaker Yen to help recover economy

  

  Japan's newly appointed finance minister Naoto Kan has called for a weaker yen in order to aid the recovery of the Japanese economy. Speaking the day after his appointment, Mr Kan said it would be “nice” to see the currency weaken.

• Friday, January 8th 2010 - 06:28 UTC

  Ample support for Bank of England’s decision to leave monetary policy unchanged

  

  The Bank of England announced Thursday its decision to hold the base rate of interest at its current historic low of 0.5%. The Monetary Policy Committee also opted against altering its quantitative easing programme, under which it has already created £200 billion to pump into the economy.

• Friday, January 8th 2010 - 05:59 UTC

  Chilean bottled wine sales soar 60% in November; UK and US main markets

  

  Confidence is high among Chilean winemakers with information released this week showing a 60% increase in exports for November 2009, compared to the same month in 2008.

• Thursday, January 7th 2010 - 17:17 UTC

  Political standoff in Argentina over sacking of Central Bank president

  

  A political standoff over the head of Argentina's central bank materialized Wednesday after the bank's president declined to support a plan to use 6.5 billion US dollars in reserves to pay debt.