Economy

• Monday, December 10th 2012 - 05:51 UTC

  Dollar clamp represents the failure of Argentina’s energy policy, says Lavagna

  

  Former Economy minister Roberto Lavagna said that it will take Argentina “at least three years” to liberate the country from the ‘dollar clamp’ if as of this month it was decided to execute a policy to end restrictions on the purchase of foreign currency.

• Monday, December 10th 2012 - 05:46 UTC

  Poor wheat crop in Argentina, which is expected to limit exports

  

  Argentina is expected to trim the quantity of 2012/2013 wheat destined for overseas shipment to 4.5 million tons from a previous 6 million due to a smaller than forecast harvest, a local newspaper reported on Saturday.

• Monday, December 10th 2012 - 05:34 UTC

  YPF confident it has partners to develop shale assets: Chevron and Bridas

  

  Argentine nationalized oil company YPF is in advanced discussions with potential partners on the development of its shale assets, the company's chief executive said. YPF could complete a deal with Bridas Energy Holdings Ltd. before the end of the year, while an agreement with US oil major Chevron Corp. will likely close in the first quarter of 2013, he said, adding that the deals would likely be similar in size.

• Monday, December 10th 2012 - 02:17 UTC

  US unemployment down to Dec 2008 level; 12 million still out a job

  

  The US announced that the labour market advanced sharply last month and its jobless rate fell to 7.7%, the lowest level in nearly four years. Washington said that late October's devastating super-storm Sandy had little effect on hiring, as employers unexpectedly added 146.000 new jobs in November, which was substantially more than economists had predicted.

• Saturday, December 8th 2012 - 03:47 UTC

  Bolivian industry warns about the Mercosur ‘straight jacket’ and protectionism

  

  The incorporation of Bolivia to Mercosur must not become a “straight jacket” that leaves the country with no margin to negotiate trade agreements with other regions, said the private business organization, Bolivia Foreign Trade Institution, IBCE

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 17:24 UTC

  FAO food prices index down in November except for dairy

  

  The FAO Food Price Index averaged 211 points in November 2012, down 3 points (1.5%) from October and the lowest since June 2012. Except for dairy, international prices of all the commodity groups included in the Index fell in November, with sugar undergoing the sharpest dip, followed by oils and cereals. The decline puts the November index value nearly 3% below one year ago.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 05:26 UTC

  Bank of England at crossroad on stimulus program despite weaker economy

  

  The Bank of England has decided not to extend its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program, which has injected £375bn into the UK financial system.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 05:22 UTC

  Brazil helped by good weather heading for record soybean and corn crops in 2012/13

  

  Brazil held forecasts for a record 2012/2013 soybean crop with the latest estimate from Conab, the Brazilian crop bureau, at 82.6m tons, towards the top of the range of 80.1m-83m tons previously anticipated and representing a jump of more than 20% year on year.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 02:18 UTC

  Brazil central bank expected to keep interest rates low for a ‘prolonged period’

  

  The Brazilian central bank indicated it will keep interest rates at their current level for an extended period given favourable signs for the inflation outlook.

• Friday, December 7th 2012 - 01:48 UTC

  ECB slashes Euro-zone growth prospects; further rate cut not discarded

  

  The European Central Bank on Thursday opened the door to a rate cut next year, after slashing its economic growth projections for the 17-member Euro- zone.