Economy

• Friday, July 6th 2012 - 07:04 UTC

  Auto industry production in Argentina continued to slow down in June

  

  Argentine automobile production fell 12% in June from the previous month and plunged 34.4% from a year earlier, according to an industry trade group. The auto industry produced 52,983 vehicles in June compared with 60,206 units in the previous month and 80,795 a year earlier.

• Friday, July 6th 2012 - 06:39 UTC

  Uruguay’s flag carrier Pluna “indefinitely grounded” and most staff redundant

  

  Uruguay’s flagship carrier Pluna said on Thursday that is was “suspending all flights indefinitely” and announced that 720 of the 900 staff would be sent on unemployment pay until a new associate for the company is found or the airline is definitively sold.

• Friday, July 6th 2012 - 01:55 UTC

  FAO food price index down in June but rebound anticipated for July

  

  FAO Food Price Index fell for the third consecutive month in June 2012, dipping 1.8% from May to its lowest level since September 2010. The four-point drop in June brought the index to 201 points from a revised level of 205 points in May 2012.

• Friday, July 6th 2012 - 01:48 UTC

  Brazil’s use of installed industrial capacity falls for a fourth consecutive month

  

  Brazil's use of installed industrial capacity fell for a fourth consecutive month in May, alongside a decline in industrial sales during the period, Brazil's National Confederation of Industries, or CNI, said Thursday.

• Friday, July 6th 2012 - 01:32 UTC

  “Leaving the Euro; a practical guide” wins the 2012 Wolfson Economics Prize

  

  Economic research company Capital Economics has won the 2012 Wolfson Economics Prize, which is the second biggest prize in economics after the Nobel Prize.

• Thursday, July 5th 2012 - 22:30 UTC

  Argentina further tightens “dollar clamp”, bans all greenback’ purchases for savings

  

  The Argentine Central Bank announced on Thursday it will officially ban the purchase of dollars for savings, the latest in a series of measures to discourage the buying of greenbacks.

• Thursday, July 5th 2012 - 22:25 UTC

  Bank of England pumps further £50 billion to the economy; total stimulus £375 bn

  

  The Bank of England has announced on Thursday it will pump a further £50bn into the UK economy over the next four months through its quantitative easing (QE) program to try to help the economy.

• Thursday, July 5th 2012 - 22:22 UTC

  ECB lowers interest to record low 0.75%; pushes banks to lend by cutting overnight rate to zero

  

  The European Central Bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point Thursday to a record low 0.75% to try to help ease Europe’s financial crisis, boost its sagging economy and restore confidence.

• Thursday, July 5th 2012 - 22:20 UTC

  China cuts interest rate a week ahead of next week’s release of second quarter stats

  

  China's central bank cut interest rates for the second time in two months to bolster an economy widely expected to record its sixth successive slide in growth in April-June.

• Thursday, July 5th 2012 - 08:14 UTC

  Roaring inflation: Argentine “double zero” peso bills are “legal tender”

  

  An issue of Argentine 100 Pesos bills printed in Brazil and in circulation in Buenos Aires was discovered to be missing the “1” which left them with only the double 00.