Economy

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 17:02 UTC

  Brazil ups basic rate to 8.5% to combat inflation; markets forecast 9.25%/10% by end of the year

  

  Brazil’s central bank raised the benchmark interest rate a third consecutive time and anticipated that the tightening cycle may be extended through the rest of the year as policy makers fight inflation.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 16:57 UTC

  Brazilian workers on “national struggle day” block the country’s main highways

  

  Tens of thousands of workers across Brazil have walked off their jobs on Thursday in a nationwide strike demanding better working conditions and improved public services. Organized by Brazil’s biggest trade union federations, strikers are partially or completely blocking 17 highways in seven states.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 07:14 UTC

  After twenty years of negotiations US opens its market to Uruguayan citrus

  

  After almost twenty years of negotiations United States confirmed the opening of its market to citrus from Uruguay, which will become effective next 9 August when certain coordination and logistics tasks are coordinated by both countries.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 07:04 UTC

  China blesses Taiwan economic accords if ‘one-China’ policy is respected

  

  China accepts that Taiwan signs economic cooperation agreements with other countries as long as they are not political and those countries do not interfere with the ‘one China policy’ which considers the island a province part of the nation, and not two nations as defended by Taipei.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 06:53 UTC

  Time for China to become more Brazilian

  

  By Markus Jaeger (*) - What could China possibly learn from Brazil, economically? After all, real GDP growth in Brazil averaged 2.75% annually over the past three decades, compared to 10% in China. Moreover, Brazil’s consumption-oriented growth model is about to exhaust itself, while China’s investment-focussed strategy continues to generate high, if somewhat diminished economic growth.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 06:43 UTC

  IMF: US pull-back from stimulus could trigger reversal in capital flows and hurt developing countries

  

  The International Monetary Fund trimmed its global growth forecast for the fifth time since early last year due to a slowdown in emerging economies and the woes in recession-struck Europe. In its mid-year health check of the world economy, IMF also warned global growth could slow further if the pull-back from massive monetary stimulus in the United States triggers reversals in capital flows and crimps growth in developing countries.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 06:34 UTC

  China’s June fall in exports and imports anticipate grim outlook for world trade

  

  China has warned of a grim outlook for trade as the world's second-largest economy surprised financial markets by reporting a fall in exports and imports when both had been expected to rise. The June data showed that exports fell 3.1% from a year earlier and imports dropped 0.7%, according to customs officials.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 01:41 UTC

  Falklands receives €4.13 million in development funds from EU and praise for good governance

  

  Falklands Islands received €4.13 million from the European Union to support sustainable growth through economic diversification under the European Development Fund (EDF) through mid-2013 to early 2016.

• Wednesday, July 10th 2013 - 17:35 UTC

  Brazil’s research company which turned the country into world breadbasket turns 40

  

  Embrapa (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisas Agropecuarias) created tropical agriculture in Brazil, thus allowing the country to become the giant food producer it is today. Hailed for the work done in adapting soybeans to the hot, humid, acidic climes of the Cerrado savannah, where nearly 17% of the world's beans are now cultivated, the state-run research company is a national treasure.

• Wednesday, July 10th 2013 - 17:32 UTC

  “Evita” 100-Peso bill are legal tender and must be accepted, warns Argentine central bank

  

  Argentina's central bank has warned businesses to stop rejecting commemorative bank notes bearing the image of Eva Peron to mark the 60th anniversary of the iconic former first lady's death. President Cristina Fernandez, whose fiery speaking style often prompts comparisons with that of “Evita” unveiled the 100-peso bills emblazoned with her profile a year ago.