Economy

• Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 - 07:56 UTC

  Brazil closes first quarter with the worst trade balance result since 1994

  

  The Brazilian trade balance posted a 112 million surplus in March with exports totaling 17.628 billion dollars and imports, 17.516 billion. It has been the worst result for March since 2001, when a 276.1 million deficit was recorded while the combined deficit for the first quarter of the year, 6.1bn dollars, is the worst result since records started being kept, in 1994.

• Tuesday, April 1st 2014 - 04:06 UTC

  Bachelet sends corporate tax bill to Congress; first step for education reform

  

  President Michelle Bachelet sent Chile's Congress a bill on Monday that would raise corporate taxes to fund a sweeping overhaul of the country's education system. The proposed reform aims to raise 8.2 billion dollars to fund tuition-free public universities, a demand that fueled massive student protests under Bachelet's conservative predecessor Sebastian Piñera.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 19:42 UTC

  Uruguay and Peru in line for a possible upgrading, according to Moody's

  

  Uruguay and Peru are the first Latin American countries in line for a possible credit rating hike by Moody's Investors Service, at a moment when sovereign upgrades are expected to become more scarce in the region, a senior analyst with the ratings firm said.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 19:28 UTC

  Mercosur expects to exchange tariff-reduction proposals with EU next June

  

  Mercosur expects to present a joint proposal regarding tariff reductions to the European Union during a meeting next June, according to Brazil's Minister of Development, Trade and Industry, Mauro Borges who apparently convinced a reluctant Argentina to join the group.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 19:25 UTC

  Brazil/Argentina agree on deal to promote bilateral trade by guaranteeing 'dollar liquidity'

  

  Brazil and Argentina signed a deal over the weekend that seeks to guarantee importers will have enough U.S. dollars to pay for exports, a move to increase trade between both nations that has been hit hard by a sharp depreciation of the Argentine peso.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 16:13 UTC

  Latam forecasted to grow 3% this year, but fiscal deterioration is serious

  

  Latin America and the Caribbean’s economy as a whole will grow by 3% this year and 3.3% in 2015 thanks to “improved economic conditions in the United States and Europe”, the Inter-American Development Bank said in a report released over the weekend.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 12:01 UTC

  Falklands reports record catches of Loligo and Illex squid

  

  Falkland Islands is reporting record catches of Illex and Loligo squid this season. News first arrived last Sunday when it was announced that local jiggers had caught the highest daily catch and highest catch rate of Loligo squid since at least 2000.

• Saturday, March 29th 2014 - 06:25 UTC

  Falklands receives US oil company temporary dock facility for exploration operations

  

  Houston based oil company Noble Energy expects to inject 4 million dollars into Falklands businesses with the construction of the temporary dock facility which arrived in the Islands this week, Senior Vice President Susan Cunningham told those attending a presentation in Stanley on Monday evening.

• Saturday, March 29th 2014 - 06:11 UTC

  Brazil's 2,3% growth in 2013 came as a surprise, even for Minister Mantega

  

  Brazil's economy expanded 2.3% in 2013, compared with growth of 1% the previous year, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE, said this week. The country's GDP for 2013 was estimated at 4.84 trillion Reais (some 2.05 trillion dollars), the IBGE said.

• Saturday, March 29th 2014 - 05:46 UTC

  Argentina takes EU biodiesel antidumping measures to WTO

  

  Argentina formally requested the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) the establishment of a panel to address the European Union antidumping measures against Argentine bio-diesel. The initiative was rejected by the EU this week.