Economy

• Friday, March 16th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  US food prices push February inflation to 0.4%

  United States consumer prices increased above forecasts in February pushed by the cost of energy and food which rose at its fastest rate for two years, according to the latest release from the US Labor Department.

• Friday, March 16th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  China finally passes landmark property rights law

  China's People Congress (NPC) by a surprising majority approved this week landmark legislation increasing private property rights following years of debate inside the Chinese Communist Party. At the end of the day only 90 of the 2.978 deputies voted against the law.

• Friday, March 16th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  “Historic” debt relief for Latam's five poorest countries

  

  United States Treasury Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Clay Lowery commended Friday the Inter-American Development Bank's “historic” approval of a debt relief package that will provide 3.4 billion US dollars in debt reduction for five of the region's poorest countries: Bolivia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

• Thursday, March 15th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentina completes four years running of economic growth

  Argentina's GDP expanded 8.5% in 2006 completing four full years of recovery following the default and melting of the economy in 2002, according to official statistics released in Buenos Aires.

• Wednesday, March 14th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Inflation up in China; fears of more credit tightening

  Consumer prices in China during February were up 2.7% from a year ago, against January's rate of 2.2%, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

• Wednesday, March 14th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  US mortgage bubble sends jitters to world markets

  Late mortgage payments and home repossessions in the United States reached their highest level according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data confirming investor fears that the sector is struggling and may weaken more.

• Wednesday, March 14th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  OECD recommends leaving interest rates unchanged

  

  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development does not anticipate a recession in the United States but called on the world's three main central banks, --US, European Union and Japan-- not to raise the cost of borrowing..

• Wednesday, March 14th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Trade and tariffs in Vazquez-Bachelet meeting

  Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez travels to Chile next April 9/10 to hold meetings with his counterpart Michelle Bachelet and to advance negotiations for a lower tariffs system between Mercosur and Chile, announced Tuesday Reinaldo Gargano, Uruguay's Foreign Affairs minister.

• Wednesday, March 14th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  US 2006 current account deficit reached 6.5% of GDP

  United States current account deficit in the fourth quarter of 2006 fell to its smallest in more than a year helped by lower oil prices and a steady rise in U.S. exports, according to a Commerce Department report released Wednesday.

• Wednesday, March 14th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Shanghai Exchange favors greater fluctuation margins

  The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has proposed raising the maximum share price fluctuation for listed companies from 10 to 20% per day. The move is part of a package of proposals for changing trading mechanisms based on a study jointly conducted by SSE and Guotai Junan Securities Co. Ltd reports China's Xinhua agency.