Economy

• Friday, June 8th 2012 - 21:06 UTC

  Fitch downgrades Repsol rating to BBB- on fears of YPF seizure impact

  

  Repsol, the Spanish oil producer whose Argentine unit YPF was nationalized in April, was cut to the lowest investment grade by Fitch Ratings, the first downgrade since reducing dividends to shore up its finances.

• Friday, June 8th 2012 - 20:51 UTC

  Bank of England stand-by on optimism over a solution to the Euro debt crisis

  

  The Bank of England has resisted injecting further emergency liquidity to the UK economy as optimism over finding a solution to the Euro zone debt crisis grew.

• Friday, June 8th 2012 - 20:21 UTC

  China lowers key rates and gives banks more flexibility to help boost growth

  

  China has cut its key interest rates for the first time since 2008, in an attempt to boost its slowing growth. The benchmark one-year loan rate was cut by a quarter of one percent to 6.31% while deposit rates were cut from 3.5% to 3.25%.

• Friday, June 8th 2012 - 02:59 UTC

  Argentine striking farmers take to the roads; government rejects negotiations

  

  The Argentine Government warned that it has “no plans” to change the farming sector's agenda, therefore will not meet with members of the Liaison Board amid a national strike that began on Wednesday to protest against the property tax hikes in the Buenos Aires province.

• Friday, June 8th 2012 - 02:08 UTC

  Alliance of the Pacific emerges as a potent challenge for Mercosur and Brazil

  

  The leading countries of Latin America’s Pacific Rim with the exception of Ecuador and a few Central American countries, agreed to conform the Alliance of the Pacific an ambitious integration project which has good relations with Washington and is targeted to accompany the growing influence of the Asia-Pacific basin.

• Friday, June 8th 2012 - 01:35 UTC

  China interested in a trade agreement with Mercosur reveals Uruguay

  

  China has offered Mercosur to consider the possibility of negotiating a free trade agreement revealed Uruguay, when the South American block is going through one of its worst moments ever so distant from the integration process pledges of 1991.

• Friday, June 8th 2012 - 01:19 UTC

  Uruguay hopes China will build and finance a deep-sea port on the Atlantic

  

  Uruguay’s long standing dream of building a deep-water port in the east of the country could become a reality in coming days when China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visits the country, according to the government financed newspaper La Republica.

• Thursday, June 7th 2012 - 06:16 UTC

  “Modest increase” assessment on the US economy from the Federal Reserve

  

  Economic growth in the United States picked up over the last two months and hiring showed signs of a “modest increase,” the Federal Reserve said in a report that ran counter to a growing sense of economic gloom.

• Thursday, June 7th 2012 - 05:45 UTC

  Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico seal the Pacific Alliance for economic integration

  

  Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico signed an accord Wednesday creating the Pacific Alliance to more deeply integrate their economies, and develop new trade links with the Asia-Pacific region.

• Thursday, June 7th 2012 - 05:26 UTC

  JBS to sue Greenpeace on report the meat packer bought cattle bred in de-forested areas

  

  Brazil's JBS, the world's largest meat company, said on Wednesday it would sue environmental organization Greenpeace for what it called false claims that could cause it to lose business and hurt its image.