Economy

• Wednesday, January 25th 2012 - 03:58 UTC

  Brazil record foreign direct investment more than compensates current account deficit

  

  Brazil posted a record-high current account deficit in 2011 on rising profit remittances by multinational companies and massive spending abroad by Brazilian tourists, but the deficit was more than covered by another record, this time for foreign direct investment, the central bank said Tuesday.

• Tuesday, January 24th 2012 - 04:08 UTC

  Argentina rams ahead with imports rules: “it is understandable people are upset”

  

  The Argentine government ratified it won’t postpone the new legislation on imports as requested by local business leaders and minimized the current conflict with Brazilian industrialists who have bitterly complained about the new restrictions.

• Tuesday, January 24th 2012 - 04:05 UTC

  Uruguay expanded 6% in 2011 and fiscal deficit dropped to 0.8% of GDP

  

  Finance Minister Fernando Lorenzo said that Uruguay’s economy in 2011 expanded an estimated 6%, the ninth year running of sustained growth, and the budget fiscal deficit was 0.8% of GDP.

• Monday, January 23rd 2012 - 23:44 UTC

  Greece publishes “shame” list of tax evaders, totaling 14.8 billion Euros

  

  The Greek government published a list of the country’s worst tax evaders on Sunday, after months of warning those same evaders to pay up or risk being named and shamed.

• Monday, January 23rd 2012 - 23:39 UTC

  EU joins US: bans oil imports from Iran and imposes further economic sanctions

  

  The European Union banned imports of oil from Iran on Monday and imposed a number of other economic sanctions, joining the United States in a new round of measures aimed at deflecting Tehran’s nuclear development program.

• Monday, January 23rd 2012 - 23:36 UTC

  IMF and Germany can’t agree on road map for Euro zone rescue

  

  IMF chief Christine Lagarde urged on Monday European governments to increase their financial firewall to prevent Greece’s troubles from ensnaring bigger countries like Italy and Spain.

• Monday, January 23rd 2012 - 17:14 UTC

  Six out of ten Brazilians belong to the middle class, says report

  

  The middle class in Brazil during the last decade expanded to reach 90 million out of a population of almost 200 million, according to paper from consultants Datafolha.

• Monday, January 23rd 2012 - 16:32 UTC

  Spain’s central banks says economy forecasted to shrink 1.5% in 2012

  

  Spain’s economy contracted in the fourth quarter and will shrink 1.5% this year, the Bank of Spain estimated, undermining government efforts to cut the budget deficit amid the second recession in two years.

• Monday, January 23rd 2012 - 16:28 UTC

  China admits “big distribution challenges” in the Year of the Dragon

  

  China will face “bigger challenges” in the Year of the Dragon its Prime Minister Wen Jiabao warned Saturday, as he pledged economic reforms to improve wealth distribution, state media reported.

• Monday, January 23rd 2012 - 04:27 UTC

  Chavez announces purchase of Brazilian aircraft for Venezuela’s state airline

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that his government plans to buy new Embraer jets from Brazil as well as used Airbus jets to expand his country's state airline Conviasa.