Economy

• Thursday, June 28th 2012 - 21:39 UTC

  Moody’s downgrades 11 Brazilian banks ratings which could be exposed to a debt crisis

  

  US rating agency Moody's had downgraded the ratings of 11 Brazilian banks by one to three notches, almost all of them to the level of Brazil's sovereign credit rating.

• Thursday, June 28th 2012 - 20:13 UTC

  Grilled calamari the sensation of UK summer boosted by the Dukan diet

  

  As Brits become more adventurous in the kitchen, sales of squid have soared. Calamari is set to be a summer sensation, due in part to the popularity of the Dukan diet.

• Thursday, June 28th 2012 - 08:09 UTC

  Moyano accuses Cristina Fernandez of arrogance, extortion and keeping workers’ monies

  

  Argentina’s chief of the powerful CGT Labour Confederation Hugo Moyano blasted President Cristina Fernandez and her government during a massive rally Wednesday in the heart of Buenos Aires at the highly symbolic Plaza de Mayo.

• Thursday, June 28th 2012 - 07:47 UTC

  FAO/OIE launch global strategy to eradicate foot and mouth disease world wide

  

  The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are joining forces to combat foot-and-mouth disease on a global scale, laying out a detailed strategy to bring the devastating livestock disease under control.

• Thursday, June 28th 2012 - 07:43 UTC

  German cabinet approves plan to balance federal budget three years earlier

  

  As was anticipated and ahead of a crucial European Union leaders summit Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet approved on Wednesday a spending plan that balances Germany’s federal budget three years earlier than required by its own rules.

• Thursday, June 28th 2012 - 07:37 UTC

  Paraguay manufacturers support the country’s expulsion from Mercosur

  

  Paraguay’s head of the Industrial Union Eduardo Felippo said that he’s supportive of the possibility that the country is excluded from Mercosur, adding that “the rest of the members are going to lose more money than us”

• Thursday, June 28th 2012 - 01:14 UTC

  Bipartisan support for the EU bailout fund ESM in the German Bundestag

  

  The budget committee of Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on Wednesday approved with a large majority the bills on the European permanent bailout fund ESM and the EU fiscal compact, it was reported in the Berlin media quoting a source who attended the committee meeting.

• Wednesday, June 27th 2012 - 21:56 UTC

  Brazil going “to bus” its way out of the economic slowdown

  

  The Brazilian government plans to buy over a third of the country’s output of buses and reduce borrowing costs for state-funded investments to a record as part of a new round of measures to revive stalled growth.

• Wednesday, June 27th 2012 - 20:36 UTC

  The man who steered Greece into the Euro zone is back on the helm

  

  The Greek government has appointed a new finance minister after its first choice resigned due to ill health less than a week after being appointed. Economist Yannis Stournaras has now been appointed, the government said.

• Wednesday, June 27th 2012 - 17:19 UTC

  Uruguay’s fiscal performance exposed to “political limitations”, says S&P report

  

  Risk rating agency Standard & Poor’s praised Uruguay’s fiscal moderation in the last eight years since the budget’s fiscal deficit has been below 2% of GDP but criticized the “political limitations” which impede the achievement of a better performance.