Economy

Tuesday, April 29th 2014 - 06:00 UTC
The Houblon £50 notes 20-year cycle ends next Wednesday says BoE

The £50 note featuring the first governor of the Bank of England, Sir John Houblon, will be withdrawn on Wednesday after 20 years in circulation. From that time, only the £50 banknote featuring Matthew Boulton and James Watt, which was introduced in 2011, will hold legal tender status.
Monday, April 28th 2014 - 23:53 UTC
Coffee prices soar as Brazil's crop plummets because of adverse weather

Because of adverse climate conditions Brazil’s Arabica coffee prices have recently surged 94%, to 2.144 dollars for half a kilogram ($2.30) on the New York futures market.
Monday, April 28th 2014 - 23:40 UTC
FIFA's Valcke downplays 'favelas' violence: “finally we will be talking about football”

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke downplayed recent violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro as a threat to the upcoming World Cup. The city was the scene of violent outbursts last week when a dancer was found dead with his friends and family blaming the killing on the police.
Monday, April 28th 2014 - 08:42 UTC
Brazil's current account deficit climbs to 3.6% of GDP during March

Brazil's current account deficit narrowed in March after an improvement in the trade balance, but it was still the second largest on record for that month, central bank data showed. The country posted a current account deficit of 6.248 billion last month, down from 7.445bn in February.
Saturday, April 26th 2014 - 05:57 UTC
Argentina's industrial production and trade surplus falls point to recession

Argentina's industrial production contracted 6% in March from the same month last year, the government said on Friday, marking the sixth consecutive monthly loss in factory output due in part to weakness in the auto-making sector. In another report released on Friday Argentina's trade surplus contracted dramatically, indicating the country could be effectively heading for a recession.
Friday, April 25th 2014 - 21:43 UTC
PM Cameron calls on BOT to have public registries with names of companies' owners

British Prime Minister David Cameron has written to the leaders of the UK’s overseas territories and crown dependencies to encourage them to create public registries that would reveal the true owners of companies registered in their jurisdictions.
Friday, April 25th 2014 - 06:04 UTC
After a long debate, Argentine Congress approves Repsol/YPF agreement terms

After a 16-hour debate, Argentina's Lower House passed the law to pay Spanish Repsol 5 billion dollars in bonds to compensate for the 2012 seizure of a majority stake in Argentina's energy company YPF.
Friday, April 25th 2014 - 05:45 UTC
Lay-offs hit Brazilian auto industry following advancing drop in sales

Volkswagen said on Thursday it will lay off 900 autoworkers at two Brazilian plants, one of the biggest recent efforts to cut output in the face of sluggish demand for cars in Latin America's largest economy. Brazil is the No. 4 market for Volkswagen after China, Germany and the United States.
Friday, April 25th 2014 - 05:41 UTC
Mantega confident that this year the 'the villain factor' in inflation is contained

Ever-optimistic Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said a recent rise in consumer prices was expected, ('there's always a villain factor pushing inflation')' anticipating that in May/June the index will be lower. Mantega also denied local news reports that the government was seeking a change in the index methodology as a way to eliminate the impact of volatile food prices.
Friday, April 25th 2014 - 05:36 UTC
Latin America's fast growing decade is coming to an end, anticipates IMF report

The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere, released on Thursday in Lima, Peru, projects regional growth of 2½ percent in 2014, down from 2¾ percent in 2013. Weak investment and subdued demand for the region’s exports held back activity in 2013, as did increasingly binding supply bottlenecks in a number of economies. For 2015, the IMF projects a modest pickup, to 3%.