Economy

• Tuesday, January 17th 2012 - 06:44 UTC

  S&P downgrades the European Stability Facility but willing to reconsider

  

  Credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s downgraded the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) from “AAA” to “AA+,” although it does not rule out it would increase it again if it bolsters its funds, according to a communiqué released on Monday.

• Monday, January 16th 2012 - 03:55 UTC

  Brazil prepares for primary surplus target with a start of the year spending freeze

  

  The size of an annual start-of-year spending freeze that the Brazilian government is set to announce by early February will offer hints on how far President Dilma Rousseff and her economic advisers want to cut interest rates.

• Monday, January 16th 2012 - 02:45 UTC

  Argentine government and farmers clash over drought emergency support

  

  As extreme drought conditions punish Argentina’s crops throughout the country farmers’ organizations are at loggerheads with the government of President Cristina Fernandez, which is refusing to increase the emergency fund for such situations and to alleviate the tax burden.

• Monday, January 16th 2012 - 02:39 UTC

  Cruise industry and insurers fear consequences of the Costa Concordia grounding

  

  The timing of Carnival Corp.’s Costa Concordia cruise ship’s grounding off the coast of Italy, at the start of the northern hemisphere peak booking season, may exacerbate the company’s losses.

• Sunday, January 15th 2012 - 01:10 UTC

  Merkel insists EU must seal a pact to tighten fiscal rules

  

  Ratings downgrades in the Euro zone by S&P underline why Europe must seal a pact to tighten fiscal rules quickly and get its permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.

• Saturday, January 14th 2012 - 06:25 UTC

  Argentine ‘official’ annual inflation, 9.5%; wholesale prices up 12.7%

  

  Argentina’s official inflation in 2011 reached 9.5%, following on December’s Consumer Prices Index (IPC) of 0.8%. Both percentages from the National Stats bureau, Indec are disputed by the Congressional index and private sector estimates which stand at a floor of 22.8% and 1.9%.

• Saturday, January 14th 2012 - 06:22 UTC

  EU Commissioner says S&P is “inconsistent” and lauds Euro rescue package

  

  The European Union Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Olli Rehn defended Euro-zone governments' crisis plans Friday, after Standard & Poor's downgraded nine out of 17 of the economic bloc's member states, a decision which he described as “inconsistent”.

• Saturday, January 14th 2012 - 06:20 UTC

  S&P Friday the 13th for Euro zone; nine countries suffer the rating scimitar

  

  The worst-kept secret on Wall Street was officially confirmed after the close Friday, when Standard & Poor’s downgraded its sovereign debt rating on France to AA+ from AAA. Spain and Italy saw their ratings cut two notches, while Germany’s AAA rating was left unchanged.

• Saturday, January 14th 2012 - 06:03 UTC

  Brazil warns it is ready to respond to Argentina’s new trade restrictions

  

  Brazil's government is ready to respond to Argentine trade restrictions introduced this week but will evaluate the impact of the measures before making any retaliatory moves, trade officials said Friday.

• Friday, January 13th 2012 - 21:48 UTC

  UK producer prices drop in December; further emergency stimulus anticipated

  

  The prices of goods leaving Britain's factories surprisingly fell in December compared with November, confirming expectations that inflation is set to ease further this year, official data showed Friday.