Economy

• Tuesday, March 13th 2012 - 07:03 UTC

  Goldman Sachs says Brazil’ Real needs to decline 20% to remain competitive

  

  Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, lent his support to Brazilian policy makers' efforts to weaken the Real, saying it needs to decline 20% to keep Latin America's biggest economy competitive.

• Tuesday, March 13th 2012 - 00:56 UTC

  Italy in recession; Greece receives bail out; Spain the new challenge

  

  Italy is in recession, final data confirmed Monday. Italy's economy shrank 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2011, following a 0.2% decline in GDP in the third quarter.

• Monday, March 12th 2012 - 22:17 UTC

  Trade, political refugees and Falklands’ flights in CFK/Piñera summit agenda

  

  Increasing common infrastructure projects such as tunnels and border crossings between Chile and Argentina will be the main motive of this week’s presidential summit between Sebastian Piñera and Cristina Fernandez.

• Monday, March 12th 2012 - 20:49 UTC

  Argentina expected to announce more protectionist measures this week

  

  Argentina plans to intensify its policy of protecting the trade surplus and impeding the outflow of hard currency and this week is expected to add another one hundred tariff positions which will be submitted to an increase in import levies.

• Monday, March 12th 2012 - 20:05 UTC

  UK minister in Chile accuses Argentina of economic blockade to the Falklands

  

  United Kingdom’s Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne on a two-day visit to Chile criticized what he called the “economic blockade” to the Falklands Islands by saying it “wasn’t right” and again reaffirmed the right of self determination for the Islanders.

• Monday, March 12th 2012 - 08:14 UTC

  Mercosur/EU meet for a new round of negotiations in Brussels

  

  A new round of talks between the European Union and Mercosur is scheduled to begin Monday in Brussels for a week, according to a press release from the Argentine Foreign Affairs.

• Monday, March 12th 2012 - 07:36 UTC

  Inter-American Development Bank meets in Montevideo; over 3.000 attendants

  

  Leading figures from the public, private, and academic sectors will participate in the annual meeting of the Inter American Development Bank, (IDB), In Uruguay, March 15-19, to examine issues that include the European crisis, youth employment, citizen security, culture and sports for youth development, climate change, and cooperation between Asia and Latin America.

• Monday, March 12th 2012 - 07:29 UTC

  End of a long stormy relation: IMF to close office in Buenos Aires

  

  In a surprise move the IMF has decided to close its office in Buenos Aires and Argentine issues will be managed and formally addressed from Peru, according to a report from La Nacion, quoting IMF sources.

• Saturday, March 10th 2012 - 05:20 UTC

  Remittances to Latam and Caribbean picked up in 2011 and reached 61 billion

  

  Latin American and Caribbean migrants sent 61 billion dollars in remittances to their home countries last year, up 6% from 57.6 billion in 2010, according to a report released today by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank group.

• Saturday, March 10th 2012 - 04:52 UTC

  Brazilian fiscal benefits for industry to prop the economy and help competition

  

  The Brazilian government that this week promised an ‘arsenal’ of measures to counter the effects of the international crisis and prop the economy will reduce the tax burden for several industries, revealed a Sao Paulo newspaper close to the current administration.