Economy

• Thursday, February 6th 2014 - 22:03 UTC

  Bank of England leaves rates on hold; next week's inflation report could signal changes

  

  UK interest rates have been kept unchanged at their record low of 0.5% by the Bank of England. The bank's Monetary Policy Committee, (MPC) also left the £375bn quantitative easing stimulus program unchanged. Analysts now hope that the Bank will use next week's inflation report to signal changes to its policy of forward guidance.

• Thursday, February 6th 2014 - 21:58 UTC

  Mercosur committee to meet next week to address tariffs' reduction proposal

  

  A Mercosur technical committee will be meeting next week in Venezuela to elaborate the group's final tariffs reduction proposal to exchange with the European Union as part of the ongoing, but long delayed, negotiations to reach an ambitious free trade agreement, according to Brazil's foreign minister Luiz Alberto Figuereido.

• Thursday, February 6th 2014 - 05:22 UTC

  BP warns of 'big uncertainties' over possibility of Scotland becoming independent

  

  Oil giant BP boss Bob Dudley has warned there are “big uncertainties” for the company over the possibility of Scotland becoming independent. Mr Dudley told the BBC the “question mark” over which currency Scotland might adopt if there was a 'yes' vote in September's referendum was “a concern”.

• Thursday, February 6th 2014 - 05:06 UTC

  Venezuela business organizations will challenge in court latest measures by Maduro administration

  

  A leading Venezuelan businessman rejected a new presidential decree limiting the profit margins of companies, vowing to take the fight all the way to the country’s Supreme Court. The President of the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Fedecámaras) Jorge Roig, announced he had the backing of his organization and other business leaders.

• Thursday, February 6th 2014 - 04:58 UTC

  Aquaculture will provide close to two thirds of global food fish by 2030, says FAO

  

  Aquaculture, or fish farming, will provide close to two thirds of global food fish consumption by 2030 as catches from wild capture fisheries level off and demand from an emerging global middle class, especially in China, substantially increases.

• Thursday, February 6th 2014 - 04:48 UTC

  An only rare atypical case of L-type mad cow located and destroyed in Germany

  

  German health authorities have picked up a rare atypical case of BSE in an aged cow, as part of routine screening work. A single animal from a group of 80 was found to have atypical BSE (L-type) after laboratory testing. Seven cohorts were destroyed as part of the examination, all found to be negative for BSE, following an epidemiological investigation.

• Thursday, February 6th 2014 - 04:42 UTC

  Uruguay 12-month inflation in January soars to 9.10%, as energy rebate ceases

  

  Consumer prices in Uruguay during January soared 2.44%, according to the latest release from the stats office, INE, and the highest percentage since 2002. This means accumulated inflation in the last twelve months reached 9,10%, compared to the 8.52% for the twelve months of 2013.

• Thursday, February 6th 2014 - 01:00 UTC

  Panama Canal expansion halted; Spanish consortia says a 'final offer' has been made

  

  A dispute over a 1.6 billion dollar cost overrun in the Panama Canal's expansion took a new twist Wednesday after a Spanish company leading the project denied it halted work over the spat.

• Wednesday, February 5th 2014 - 23:43 UTC

  Paris Club prepared for talks with Argentina over debt repayment

  

  The Paris Club is open to talks with Argentina on repaying its debt, the group of creditor nations said on Wednesday, moving closer towards launching formal negotiations with Buenos Aires.

• Wednesday, February 5th 2014 - 22:59 UTC

  US, the world's largest producer of oil approves licenses to export crude to Europe

  

  The United States government has approved at least four licenses to export crude oil to Europe, for the first time in years, showing how companies are breaking through the limits of the export ban established in the 1970s, according to Reuters which learned about the fact from a Freedom of Information Act request.