Economy

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 04:17 UTC

  Argentines capable of ‘eluding the Pope and the UN in getting dollars out of their country’

  

  Uruguay president José 'Pepe' Mujica was again ironic in praising Argentines when he stated that the Argentine population “is capable of eluding the Pope and even the United Nations” in their quest to buy US dollars and get them out of the country, in spite of current exchange controls.

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 04:10 UTC

  Paraguay advancing on trade agreement with Mexico, previous to requesting Pacific Alliance membership

  

  Paraguay and Mexico have made significant advances in reaching a trade agreement in the framework of the Latinamerican Integration Association, ALADI, according to Paraguayan diplomatic sources.

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 03:49 UTC

  Lagarde again warns Argentina about the need for ‘credible stats’

  

  The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde has once more requested that Argentina present economic figures based on “trustworthy and credible numbers and statistics”.

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 03:39 UTC

  Rajoy admits in Parliament mishandling corruption scandal, but won’t resign

  

  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy apologised on Thursday for mishandling a major corruption scandal, but denied he or his conservative People's Party, PP, accepted illegal payments and rejected opposition calls to step down.

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 03:33 UTC

  Brazil June public accounts improve supported by state and local governments’ surpluses

  

  Brazil's twelve-month public sector primary budget surplus widened in June amid a robust surplus from state and local governments, helping bring the country's nominal deficit slightly narrower.

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 03:09 UTC

  Argentine opposition announces the ‘real life’ GDP growth index: 0.5% in the first quarter

  

  Several Argentine opposition groups have started publishing their own GDP index, (as they do with inflation) based on the average of data processed by private consultants which are exposed to the intimidation of President Cristina Fernandez administration officials.

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 02:47 UTC

  Bank of England leaves rates unchanged as UK economy seems to be picking up

  

  Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has left interest rates at 0.5%. The key borrowing rate has been at that level since March 2009. MPC also said it would make no change to the £375bn of monetary stimulus it is providing through its quantitative easing program (QE).

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 02:42 UTC

  Euro rates to remain unchanged for extended period of time, says ECB

  

  The European Central Bank left interest rates at a record low 0.5% on Thursday and said that they will remain there for some while to come and could yet fall further. ECB President Mario Draghi hinted that policy would not be tightened until well into next year at the earliest, although the central bank will give no time horizon for when rates might move.

• Friday, August 2nd 2013 - 02:29 UTC

  Uruguay extends another 12 months VAT benefits for foreign tourists

  

  Uruguay extended for another twelve months the VAT bonus for those tourists who pay for purchases, lodging and rents with debit cards. The measure was announced this week by Deputy cabinet chief Diego Canepa following a full ministerial meeting and in anticipation of the coming 2013/14 summer season.

• Thursday, August 1st 2013 - 04:04 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez says unemployment is down to 7.2% but calls for more job creation

  

  Argentina's unemployment rate fell to 7.2% in the second quarter of 2013 compared with 7.9% in the first quarter of the year, President Cristina Fernandez announced during a speech praising her government’s industrialization and added-value policies.