Economy

• Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:04 UTC

  US fourth quarter GDP revised to positive, but still far from satisfactory

  

  Gross domestic product (GDP) in the US in the last three months of 2012 has been revised from showing contraction to growth. The Commerce Department's second estimate was that the economy had grown at an annualised 0.1%. The first estimate was a 0.1% contraction.

• Saturday, March 2nd 2013 - 08:12 UTC

  Brazilian economy worst performance in three years; in 2012 growth was 0.9%

  

  The Brazilian economy grew a mere 0.9% in 2012 despite government stimulus measures, its worst performance in three years, official statistics showed Friday. But prospects for the coming years are considered encouraging given the international events to be hosted by Brazil and the electoral calendar.

• Saturday, March 2nd 2013 - 08:03 UTC

  Obama signs spending cuts after no agreement is reached with the Republicans

  

  US President Barack Obama has signed into effect a wave of steep spending cuts which he has warned could damage the US economy. The cuts - known as the sequester and drawn up two years ago will take 85bn dollars from the US federal budget this year.

• Saturday, March 2nd 2013 - 07:55 UTC

  Argentina offers to pay ‘holdouts’ but on same terms as those who accepted debt restructuring

  

  President Cristina Fernández defended on Friday her debt reduction policies and blasted the so-called vulture funds and multilateral organizations but also admitted Argentina was willing to pay holdouts on the same conditions that those who accepted the 2005 and 2010 debt restructuring.

• Friday, March 1st 2013 - 16:05 UTC

  IAG insists Iberia “must adapt to survive”; forecasts profit this year

  

  British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has pledged to push through a plan to shrink Spanish arm Iberia by 15% and deliver a profit rebound this year following a group-wide loss last year.

• Friday, March 1st 2013 - 14:21 UTC

  Markets fear Argentina could be en route to a ‘technical’ default

  

  “We are representing a government, and governments will not be told to do things that fundamentally violate their principles” lawyer Jonathan Blackman told the Manhattan US appeals court.

• Friday, March 1st 2013 - 13:29 UTC

  Euro-zone unemployment reaching 12%; Greece and Spain above 26%

  

  Unemployment in the Euro zone reached a new high of 11.9% in January, as an additional 201,000 people joined the jobless ranks in the crisis-battered bloc, latest data showed Friday. The unemployment rate has been increasing relentlessly since the middle of 2011.

• Friday, March 1st 2013 - 00:11 UTC

  World's richest man says Argentina is great and predictable: “you can never get hold of dollars”

  

  Mexico’s Carlos Slim, probably the world’s richest man according to Forbes has referred to Argentina with certain irony when he was asked about the current foreign currency restrictions and changing regulatory framework implemented by the government of President Cristina Fernandez.

• Thursday, February 28th 2013 - 23:59 UTC

  Brazilian market suffers the impact of iron-ore producer Vale record loss in fourth quarter

  

  Brazil’s Bovespa-index futures declined with the equity gauge poised for its biggest monthly drop since May, after iron-ore producer Vale SA posted a record loss in the fourth quarter.

• Thursday, February 28th 2013 - 06:13 UTC

  Argentina urges ‘workable’ solution from US appeals court to dispute with holdout bondholders

  

  Argentina's defence urged a US appeals court on Wednesday to come up with a “workable” solution to its long-running fight with so-called holdout bondholders, and assured the country will not pay an amount exceeding the one set in the debt-swaps.