Economy

• Monday, June 4th 2012 - 03:49 UTC

  Merkel signals to the opposition she is ready to accept measures to boost growth

  

  Chancellor Angela Merkel praised higher German wage deals and signalled flexibility on a financial transaction tax, in a sign she is open to new measures to boost growth in Europe.

• Monday, June 4th 2012 - 03:40 UTC

  Berlin conditions Euro area bonds to an EU fiscal authority to control budgets

  

  When former European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet called last June for the creation of a European finance ministry with power over national budgets the idea seemed fanciful, a distant dream that would take years or even decades to realize, if it ever came to be.

• Monday, June 4th 2012 - 03:22 UTC

  Latin America holds 42% of the world’s agriculture expansion potential

  

  Latin America is one of the few regions of the world where agriculture production can expand since it holds 42% of that potential globally, said Victor M. Villalobos Director General of the Inter American Institute for the Cooperation on Agriculture, IICA.

• Saturday, June 2nd 2012 - 04:19 UTC

  Argentine senator admits having lost his temper regarding his savings in dollars, “I regret it”

  

  The most outspoken soldier of President Cristina Fernandez, Senator and former Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández regretted on Friday his controversial outburst on Thursday when he admitted having savings in dollars and it was nobody’s business what he did with his money.

• Saturday, June 2nd 2012 - 04:16 UTC

  Brazil expands 0.2% in first quarter; stimuli measures still have to impact, says Mantega

  

  Brazil's economy barely expanded in the first quarter as frustrated business leaders cut back on investments, casting new doubt on the health of emerging markets.

• Saturday, June 2nd 2012 - 03:50 UTC

  Argentine construction slides and could worsen because of US dollar restrictions

  

  Argentina's construction activity experienced a notable slowdown in April, the latest indicator pointing to a cooling of economic growth. Looking ahead prospects are not encouraging given the strict restrictions on US dollars, which is the main currency for real estate operations in Argentina.

• Saturday, June 2nd 2012 - 03:42 UTC

  Buenos Aires province farmers on 9 days commercial strike against higher taxes

  

  Farmers Argentina's top agricultural province of Buenos Aires will halt sales of grains and livestock for nine days to protest against a tax hike passed by the local Congress on Thursday, threatening corn and soy shipments from a leading global exporter.

• Saturday, June 2nd 2012 - 03:22 UTC

  Argentine experts on alert in Athens to help with bail-out if Greece exits the Euro

  

  American International Group Inc (AIG) has assigned staff from Argentina to advise their counterparts in Athens as the bailed-out insurer prepares for a possible Greek exit from the Euro.

• Saturday, June 2nd 2012 - 03:01 UTC

  Black Friday for markets; US dismal jobs report and European crisis

  

  US stocks fell more than 2% on Friday, dragging the Dow Jones into negative territory for the year after a dismal US jobs report added to fears that Europe's spiralling debt crisis was dragging down the world economy.

• Saturday, June 2nd 2012 - 02:49 UTC

  Euro zone unemployment hits a new record low: 17.4 million out of work

  

  Euro zone unemployment has hit a record high, and job losses are likely to keep climbing as the bloc's devastating debt crisis eats away at businesses' ability to hire workers while indebted governments continue to cut staff.