Economy

• Wednesday, April 10th 2013 - 07:28 UTC

  Uruguay leads in beef consumption: 60 kilos per capita per year

  

  Uruguay’s per capita consumption of meats last year reached 98 kilos which represents a 3.4% increase over 2011 and above the average of developed countries that stands at 78 kilos per person per year, according to stats released by the country’s National Meats Institute, INAC.

• Wednesday, April 10th 2013 - 07:24 UTC

  Fitch ratings downgrades China’s Yuan sovereign credit rating

  

  Fitch Ratings has downgraded China's sovereign credit rating, warning about a credit build-up in the economy that could threaten the recovery. The agency cited “underlying structural weaknesses” and a growing risk from shadow banking. The downgrade is for Yuan-denominated debt, not foreign currency debt.

• Wednesday, April 10th 2013 - 00:21 UTC

  ILO paper warns of social unrest risk in the Euro-zone as unemployment keeps climbing

  

  Unemployment at unprecedented levels in the European Union means the risk of social unrest is on the rise says the UN's International Labour Organization Miguel Angel Malo who argues that EU politicians need to abandon austerity and embrace job creation.

• Tuesday, April 9th 2013 - 02:17 UTC

  A ticking economic bomb waits for whoever wins next Sunday in Venezuela

  

  Whoever wins next Sunday’s presidential election in Venezuela faces an economic time bomb with food shortages, insufficient US dollars to pay for imports and honour the country’s debt, a devastated economy full of inefficient nationalized companies and non productive farms plus mounting promises of further handouts from the government and inflation.

• Monday, April 8th 2013 - 00:04 UTC

  Brazil exporters anticipate May/June port chaos with soy, sugar and corn crops coincide

  

  The logistics chaos in the Brazilian port of Santos (one of the busiest of the country) in mid March with the first shipments of a record soy crop will become even worse in May and June, according to the Jose Augusto de Castro, president of the Brazilian Association of Foreign Trade, AEB.

• Sunday, April 7th 2013 - 23:58 UTC

  Brazil planning agency to manage fluvial ports, waterways and locks

  

  The administration of President Dilma Rousseff is working on the creation of a new agency which will be responsible for Brazil’s fluvial ports and terminals, waterways and locks. The ‘Hidrobras’ project is being drafted by the Ministries of Transport and Planning and will look after shipping in the fluvial system, “which is currently exploited far below its possibilities and potential”.

• Saturday, April 6th 2013 - 04:02 UTC

  S&P strong warning to UK on continuing negative outlook for the economy

  

  Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has reaffirmed its triple-A rating for the UK, but warned of the continuing negative outlook for the economy. S&P said it may downgrade the UK from the highest rating in the future if economic conditions worsened.

• Saturday, April 6th 2013 - 03:50 UTC

  Brazil claims trade situation with Argentina is “less than satisfactory”

  

  Brazil admitted that the trade situation with Argentina is “less than satisfactory”, given the ongoing barriers and restrictions imposed by Buenos Aires and revealed that the bilateral trade balance is now inclined in favour of its southern neighbour and Mercosur associate.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 22:20 UTC

  “If the Euro is to survive”, centralized banking supervision and unlimited liquidity are crucial

  

  Creating an EU banking union with a centralized supervisory and restructuring board plus telling the European Central Bank to provide unlimited liquidity to maintain the payments system are crucial if the Euro is to survive, according to a leading German economist from the European Bruegel think-tank analyzing the ongoing banking and confidence crisis triggered by Cyprus.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 22:13 UTC

  ECB monetary policy ‘accommodative’ but governments need to play their share

  

  The European Central Bank cannot step into the breach left by a lack of political action to solve the region's debt crisis, but is ready to do whatever it can to help, ECB chief Mario Draghi said on Thursday.