Economy

• Monday, July 16th 2012 - 23:48 UTC

  Italian banks downgraded but risk-rating agencies analysis are also questioned

  

  UniCredit SpA and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA were among 13 Italian banks that had long-term debt, deposit or issuer ratings cut by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the government’s weakened creditworthiness.

• Monday, July 16th 2012 - 23:42 UTC

  Manchester United retains title as the world’s most valuable sports team, says Forbes

  

  English football club Manchester United retained their title as the world's most valuable sports team, according to an annual top 50 list released by Forbes on Monday that was dominated by National Football League (NFL) franchises.

• Monday, July 16th 2012 - 07:24 UTC

  Uruguayan Central bank poll shows economy is expected to grow at slower pace

  

  The Uruguayan economy is set to grow 3.57% in 2012 which is below the government’s forecast according to the latest analysts and businesspeople poll published last Friday by the central bank.

• Saturday, July 14th 2012 - 07:17 UTC

  Chile and Peru, best performing economies of the region leave rates unchanged

  

  Chile and Peru opted this week against following the lead set by nations from Brazil to South Korea in cutting interest rates as economic growth and slowing inflation in the Pacific neighbors gave central bankers little reason to change monetary policy

• Saturday, July 14th 2012 - 07:15 UTC

  Markets find optimism in Chinese economy despite slower growth

  

  China's economy has grown at its slowest pace in three years as investment slowed and demand fell in key markets such as the US and Europe. GDP rose by 7.6% in the second quarter, compared with the same period a year ago. That is down from 8.1% in the previous three months.

• Saturday, July 14th 2012 - 07:12 UTC

  Tourist arrivals in Chile up 15% in first half of 2012: Argentina, Brazil lead

  

  Chilean Tourism Under Secretariat head Jacqueline Plass made a positive balance of tourism activity during the first half of the year with over 1.85 million foreign arrivals, a 15% increase over the same period a year ago.

• Saturday, July 14th 2012 - 07:06 UTC

  Visa and Mastercard agree to largest settlement with retailers over card fees

  

  Credit card companies Visa and Mastercard and major US banks have agreed to a 7.25bn dollars settlement to retailers over card fees. The case, which has been going on for seven years, is over firms colluding to fix the fees that stores pay to process credit and debt card payments.

• Saturday, July 14th 2012 - 06:48 UTC

  Chile’s copper industry wants to develop shale gas to help lower energy prices

  

  Shale gas may be the solution to one of the most serious problems the Chilean mining industry is facing because of the very high energy prices due to limited supply.

• Saturday, July 14th 2012 - 01:22 UTC

  Argentina has three annual inflation estimates: 9.9%; 23.96% and 30%

  

  Argentina's government reported Friday that consumer prices rose by 0.7% in June. The estimate, published by national statistics agency, Indec, indicates that in the first half of 2012 inflation reached 5.1% and 9.9% in the last twelve months.

• Saturday, July 14th 2012 - 01:03 UTC

  Brazil ready to launch an eight storey “love hotel” for pets

  

  Following in the footsteps of United States, Brazil is all set to open a “love hotel” for pets. The country is home to a 32-million-strong canine population the world's second largest after America.