Economy

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 22:11 UTC

  BoE ready to pump liquidity if first quarter confirms UK back in recession

  

  The Bank of England has decided not to expand its stimulus program of quantitative easing and has also kept interest rates unchanged at 0.5%. The decision had been widely expected, despite concerns over the strength of the UK economy. The rate has been at that level since March 2009.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 22:03 UTC

  Japan plans to double money supply to pull the country out of deflation and 2% inflation in two years

  

  The Bank of Japan announced on Thursday the world's most aggressive monetary stimulus today, promising to inject about 1.4 trillion dollars into the economy in less than two years, a radical gamble that sent the Yen reeling and bond yields to record lows.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 21:55 UTC

  Argentina honours coupon and interest payments on sovereign bonds

  

  Argentina has made on Wednesday a scheduled coupon payment on its 2038 Par bonds and paid interest on its 2015 Boden bonds, the Economy Ministry’s spokeswoman said. Investors are worried Argentina could trigger a technical default if a US appellate court rules against it in a case brought by “holdout” creditors suing for full repayment on bonds in default since 2002.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 18:37 UTC

  Falkland Islands’ oil industry associate begins offshore production from Israel’s major gas deposits

  

  Houston based Noble Energy which also has interests in the Falkland Islands oil industry announced this week that the Tamar natural gas field offshore Israel has been successfully brought online with all five of the sub-sea wells now producing at stable rates totalling approximately 300 million cubic feet per day.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 16:59 UTC

  Gas starts flowing from Israel's Levant Basin, what now?

  

  By Jen Alic - The first gas has started flowing from Israel's super-giant Tamar gas-field in the Levant Basin. Where it will go will redraw the Mediterranean energy map and the geopolitics that goes along with it.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 07:59 UTC

  Argentina again this year will use reserves to comply with debt commitments

  

  Argentina will use 2.3 billion dollars of central bank reserves this year to meet payments to international financing organizations and on its official bilateral debt, according to the Official Gazette.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 07:56 UTC

  Uruguay reports lower inflation in March but the first quarter index was 3.59%

  

  Uruguay consumer prices climbed 0.66% during March totalling 3.59% in the first quarter of the year and 8.54% in the last twelve months, according to a Wednesday release from the National Stats Office, INE.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 07:51 UTC

  Brazilian industrial production continues to struggle despite all the incentives

  

  Brazil’s industrial output shrank more than expected in February, reversing most of the previous month’s gains and casting fresh doubt over the health of an anaemic recovery in the struggling sector.

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 07:45 UTC

  Brazil central bank admits difficulties in taming stubbornly high inflation

  

  Brazil’s Central Bank will keep a close eye on the economy to see if there is a need for any action to tame stubbornly high inflation, the bank's chief Alexandre Tombini said in a presentation to the Senate's economic affairs committee

• Thursday, April 4th 2013 - 02:47 UTC

  Argentine defaulted bond-holders have until 22 April to respond to the proposed payment plan

  

  A US appeals court gave holders of defaulted Argentina debt three weeks to respond to the country’s proposed plan to pay them much less than the 1.33 billion dollars they have sued to collect.