Economy

• Thursday, July 12th 2012 - 06:54 UTC

  US Fed divided as to when decide on a new round of asset purchases

  

  The US Federal Reserve officials are open to the possibility of a new round of asset purchases, though the US economy may need to get weaker before any further action is taken.

• Thursday, July 12th 2012 - 01:59 UTC

  Chile’s top copper producer placed 2bn dollars in 10 and 30-year bonds

  

  The world’s number one copper producer Codelco announced it had placed 2 billion dollars in bonds, its largest debt issue to date, aimed at refinancing debt and funding a good part of the miner's 2013 investments.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 22:56 UTC

  'Euroleaf', trademark for the strict EU organic farming standards

  

  The “Euro-leaf” EU organic logo was introduced on 1 July 2010, but in order to help operators adapt to the new rules, and to avoid waste of existing packaging, a 2-year transition period was allowed before it was compulsory on all products.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 22:33 UTC

  ILO anticipates further job losses in Euro-zone because of austerity measures

  

  The Euro-zone could lose 4.5 million more jobs in the next four years unless the region shifts away from austerity, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has warned. That rise would take unemployment in the 17-nation bloc to 22 million.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 22:28 UTC

  Rajoy raises VAT to 21% and drastically cuts benefits and other perks

  

  Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced a swathe of new taxes and spending cuts designed to slash 65 billion Euros from the budget deficit by 2014 as recession-plagued Spain struggles to meet tough targets agreed with Europe.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 22:16 UTC

  Germany expected to grow 1.9% in 2013 because of Euro crisis

  

  Germany's DIW economic research institute slashed its 2013 forecast for Europe's largest economy by 0.5 percentage points to 1.9% on Wednesday, saying the Euro zone debt crisis would have a bigger impact than it had originally expected.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 22:09 UTC

  OECD/FAO anticipate promising future for farm-commodity prices

  

  World farm commodity prices will edge higher in the next decade, and oilseeds are set to outperform wheat and other cereals, both trends fuelled by demand in emerging economies, the OECD said on Wednesday, presenting a joint report with the UN's food agency FAO.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 19:57 UTC

  German proposal: richest citizens should pay more taxes or loan long term to governments

  

  A leading German economic research institute has come up with one way to help countries involved in the euro crisis pay down their sovereign debt: get the wealthiest citizens to pay higher taxes, or force them to loan money to their governments.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 19:24 UTC

  With Venezuela, Mercosur will extend from Patagonia to the Caribbean

  

  Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota again supported the access of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur and the suspension of Paraguay, which he described as a clear message for all those possible “anti-democratic adventures”.

• Wednesday, July 11th 2012 - 06:23 UTC

  Uruguay dairy exports jump 20% in value in first half of 2012 and reach 346m

  

  Uruguayan dairy exports in the first half of this year increased 30% in volume and 20% in value over the same period a year ago totalling 346 million dollars, according to the latest release from the National Milk Institute, Inale.