Economy

• Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 01:38 UTC

  Saudi Arabia joins Japan and China, suspends imports of Brazilian beef

  

  Saudi Arabia has suspended imports of Brazilian beef, Brazil’s agriculture ministry said Tuesday, and became the largest country to stop purchases after confirmation of a 2010 case of atypical mad cow disease.

• Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 01:33 UTC

  Schmallenberg disease hitting lambs and calves spreads to all England and Wales

  

  A disease that can lead to lambs and calves being stillborn or deformed has spread to every county in England and Wales. Some farmers are expected to lose livestock during the lambing season, which is just getting underway.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2012 - 05:34 UTC

  Santander keeps growing: absorbs Banesto and Banif and will close 700 branches

  

  Banking giant Santander said on Monday that it will absorb two of its Spanish offshoots, closing 700 branches in the latest stage of Spain's great banking shake-up. The biggest bank in the Euro zone by market value, said it could save 520 million Euros a year by absorbing the offshoots, Banesto and Banif.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2012 - 04:01 UTC

  Argentina says Belgian highest court rules against seizure of diplomatic accounts

  

  The Belgian Supreme Court threw out an attempt by hedge funds to seize Argentina’s diplomatic accounts in that country, according to a release on Monday from the Argentine Foreign ministry.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2012 - 03:56 UTC

  IMF board to consider Argentina’s stats case at the end of January

  

  The board of directors of the International Monetary Fund will again meet at the end of January to debate Argentina’s improvement in the quality of its official economic index, IMF spokesman announced on Monday.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2012 - 03:39 UTC

  IMF adopts a more flexible position regarding global capital flows management

  

  The International Monetary Fund has developed a comprehensive, flexible, and balanced view on the management of global capital flows to help give countries clear and consistent policy advice.

• Monday, December 17th 2012 - 21:15 UTC

  Brazil and Argentina bottom of the list in terms of competitiveness

  

  Brazil ranks near the bottom among fourteen emerging powers in terms of competitiveness, due to high capital and labor costs as well as inadequate infrastructure, according to a study commissioned by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) and published by the Folha de Sao Paulo daily.

• Monday, December 17th 2012 - 20:53 UTC

  US consumer prices falls in November because of sharp drop in gasoline prices

  

  US consumers prices fell in November due to a sharp drop in petrol prices, according to official figures, as inflation in the economy remained weak. The consumer price index fell 0.3% from October, the first decline since May, the US Labour Department said.

• Monday, December 17th 2012 - 06:23 UTC

  HSBC Argentina also fined for failing to report suspicious transactions

  

  Argentina slapped a 30 million Peso (6 million dollars) fine on a local subsidiary of global banking giant HSBC for failing to report suspicious transactions, authorities here said Sunday.

• Monday, December 17th 2012 - 06:20 UTC

  China quarantines Argentine corn because of unapproved genetically modified strains

  

  Chinese authorities quarantined two containers holding corn from Argentina, after detecting genetically modified strains that had not been approved beforehand, alleged the Chinese buyer.