Economy

• Saturday, September 19th 2009 - 11:34 UTC

  US tighter supervision of credit rating agencies

  

  United States credit rating agencies will face tighter supervision under new rules adopted by the US financial watchdog.

• Saturday, September 19th 2009 - 11:26 UTC

  Reflecting recession, Argentina’s foreign trade dropped by 40% during August

  

  Argentina's August trade surplus dropped 48% from the same month a year ago to 1.16 billion US dollars as exports sank, the government said on Friday. Imports fell by 37% during the month to 3.25 billion, while exports dropped by an even bigger 40% to 4.40 billion USD due to lower prices and reduced volumes, particularly by the drought-hit farming industry.

• Saturday, September 19th 2009 - 11:21 UTC

  Brazil’ stock exchange reaches new high; 62% gain so far in 2009

  

  Brazilian blue-chip shares closed on Friday at a 14-month high as global investors continue to flock to the country. The benchmark Ibovespa stocks index closed 0.8% higher at 60,703 points, up from Thursday's close at 60,236 points and breaking through the psychologically important 60,500-point mark.

• Saturday, September 19th 2009 - 11:15 UTC

  G 20: “Step up reforms” in IMF and WB, demand developing countries

  

  Emerging countries and particularly those from Latinamerica will propose at the coming G-20 summit in Pittsburgh that reforms of the IMF and World Bank, where they expect to have a larger representation, move much faster.

• Saturday, September 19th 2009 - 07:32 UTC

  Argentina’s capital flight in the first half of 2009 reached 7.5 billion USD

  

  Capital flight in Argentina climbed during the second quarter, with net outflows of 4.279 billion US dollars from the non-financial private sector, according to Friday’s report from Indec.

• Saturday, September 19th 2009 - 07:25 UTC

  Argentina’s GDP contracts 0.8% in August but expands 3% in last 12 months

  

  Argentina's GDP fell 0.8% in the second quarter compared to a year ago, the first time in six years, but accumulates a 0.6% raise in the first half of the year, according to a Friday release from the national statistics bureau, Indec.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 15:02 UTC

  A new map of wealthy people has emerged from the financial crisis

  

  The economic and financial crisis of the last 18 months has transformed the global map of the world’s wealthiest people, with Europe nudging out North America as the richest region, according to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 12:03 UTC

  Argentina set to recover in 2010 with growth reaching 2.5%

  

  Argentina’s Economy Minister Amado Boudou made the official presentation Thursday of the 2010 budget before the Lower House of Congress, in which he estimated that the economy would grow 2.5% in the upcoming fiscal year, with retail prices in the range of 7% and the primary budget surplus 2.7%. of GDP.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 11:32 UTC

  Brazil’s JBS moves into the US poultry market and consolidates at home

  

  Brazil's JBS, the world's biggest beef producer, agreed this week to buy a controlling take in bankrupt US poultry producer Pilgrim's Pride and JBS' Brazilian beef rival Bertin.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 11:29 UTC

  Argentina plans to reach agreement with “holdouts” and Paris Club

  

  Argentina plans to reach an agreement with holders of the country's defaulted debt in an effort to return to international lending markets, according to a draft of the 2010 budget submitted to Congress this week.