Economy

• Thursday, December 26th 2013 - 05:52 UTC

  US economy picking up strength according to third quarter data

  

  The United States economy grew at a surprisingly robust 4.1% annual pace in the third quarter according to the Commerce Department, which was the strongest advance in nearly two years and only the third time the economy had expanded that quickly from one quarter to the next since 2006.

• Saturday, December 21st 2013 - 21:22 UTC

  Uruguay Economy minister resigns over scandal involving flag air carrier Pluna

  

  Uruguay's economy minister Fernando Lorenzo resigned on Saturday in the face of questions over the alleged irregular sale of government-owned airplanes following the closure of Pluna, the country's flag carrier, President Jose Mujica announced at a brief press conference, with no questions taken, next to Vice president Danilo Astori.

• Saturday, December 21st 2013 - 06:50 UTC

  IDB loan for Sao Paulo State to improve freight and passenger transport

  

  The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo will receive a loan for 480 million dollars from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to improve freight and passenger transport in the state highway system in order to enhance competitiveness and regional and international integration by reducing transport costs and travel time.

• Saturday, December 21st 2013 - 05:41 UTC

  Argentina imposes 'voluntary' price agreement on 200 supermarket staples

  

  Argentina has negotiated a new inflation-fighting attempt: regulating prices of nearly 200 supermarket staples, scheduled to go into effect January 1, the Commerce Department said Friday. The deal was reached with different chambers and pretends to keep prices unchanged for twelve months.

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:48 UTC

  Stiglitz says China demand for better diet will keep Mercosur countries busy

  

  The commodities-exporting economies of Latin America will continue expanding in the years ahead, driven by demand from China despite slower growth in its economy, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said during a conference round in Uruguay.

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:41 UTC

  Brazil expects to begin exporting matured beef to the US in first half of 2014

  

  Brasilia and Washington have taken the latest technical steps to open the US market to Brazilian beef, which if all runs smoothly together with a 60 to 90 days public consultation period could see the first shipments in the second quarter of next year. Currently because of sanitary barriers linked to Foot and Mouth Disease, FMD, Brazil can only export industrialized beef to the US.

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:35 UTC

  After fifty years Cubans can now buy and sell cars, but for most non affordable

  

  Cubans will be able to buy new and second-hand cars from state-run retailers without a permit under new rules approved by President Raul Castro's government. The measure, announced Thursday by the official media, is another step in Castro's plan to “modernize” the island's socialist economy and lift decades-old market restrictions.

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:28 UTC

  US planning a new trade agreement with Latam, but through NAFTA

  

  The President Barack Obama administration is “exploring” a regional trade plan for the Americas that would be the most ambitious hemispheric initiative in years, but contrary to the failed experience of George Bush's FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), this time it would be instrumented through Nafta (North American Free Trade Agreement) partners Mexico and Canada, according to a Miami Herald interview of Andres Oppenheimer with Secretary of State John Kerry.

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:17 UTC

  Despite sluggish economy, Brazil unemployment at record low 2.6% in November

  

  Unemployment in Brazil's six-largest cities was 4.6% in November compared with 5.2% in October, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, said on Thursday. That was the lowest monthly reading since December 2012, when unemployment was also at 4.6%.

• Friday, December 20th 2013 - 06:11 UTC

  Brazil denies EU charges of protectionism and discriminating tax measures

  

  Brazil on Thursday strenuously denied European Union charges it engages in protectionism and said it would show its trade programs conform to WTO rules. The EU took Brazil to the World Trade Organization Thursday, complaining it was using taxes to discriminate against imports and illegally help its exporters