Economy

• Tuesday, February 14th 2012 - 22:19 UTC

  Euro debt crisis: Moody warns France and Britain’s triple-A rating could be next

  

  Rating agency Moody's announced on Tuesday it had downgraded six European nations including Italy, Spain and Portugal, citing growing risks from Europe's debt crisis, and warned it may cut the triple-A ratings of France, Britain and Austria.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2012 - 21:16 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez raps business, farmers and unions: Argentina is not Disneyland

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fenandez again full of stamina criticized farmers, business people and workers’ unions, and at the same time called on all sides involved to live in the real Argentina, “not fantasy land, because Argentina is not Disneyland”.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2012 - 21:03 UTC

  Republicans promise ‘to kill’ Obama’s budget which raises taxes on the rich

  

  President Barack Obama called on Monday for aggressive spending to boost growth and for higher taxes on the rich, laying out an election-year vision for the US in a budget that was criticized sharply by Republicans for failing to curb the deficit.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2012 - 20:57 UTC

  S&P and Fitch downgrade Spain’s top banks: Santander and BBVA

  

  Banco Santander SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA were among 15 Spain-based financial firms downgraded by Standard & Poor's after the credit-ratings company reduced the nation's grade last month.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2012 - 20:51 UTC

  New Year or Euro crisis: China’s January exports fall, imports plummet 15.3%

  

  China's exports fell in January the first decline in more than two years, raising fresh concerns about the impact of a global slowdown on its economy. Exports dipped 0.5% from a year earlier hurt by sluggish demand and factories being shut during the Lunar New Year.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2012 - 20:43 UTC

  Brazil willing to wait to see how latest Argentine trade restrictions evolve

  

  Brazil’s private sector said it would grant Argentina a “confidence vote” and would wait until the end of February before assessing the consequence of the new import restrictions imposed by the government of President Cristina Fernandez.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2012 - 20:39 UTC

  Argentine transport union promises to boycott all English and UK convenience flag vessels

  

  The Argentine Confederation of Transport Workers, CATT announced Monday a boycott against all those “English vessels” that call in any port of the country to protest the UK “militaristic pretensions” in the Malvinas Islands and South Atlantic.

• Monday, February 13th 2012 - 21:25 UTC

  The Falklands “a fantastic corner of the world with much trade to be done”

  

  “Far beyond expectations; this is a fantastic corner of the world”, said Dr. Nicolas Negrin, Head of Mission for the Uruguayan delegation describing his impression of the Falkland Islands. The 19 member Uruguayan business delegation spent a week in the Falklands and left on Saturday with impressions considerably different to those they had arrived with.

• Monday, February 13th 2012 - 21:00 UTC

  FAO Food Price Index up 2% in January, first increase since July 2011

  

  The FAO Food Price Index rose by nearly two percent or four points from December to January, its first increase since July 2011. According to FAO prices of all the commodity groups in the index registered gains last month with oils increasing the most followed closely by cereals, sugar, dairy products and meat.

• Monday, February 13th 2012 - 20:06 UTC

  “We may be poor but not stupid”, China is not interested in EU government bonds

  

  The head of China’s 410 billion dollars sovereign wealth fund CIC brushed aside a call by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to buy European government debt, saying such investments were “difficult” for long-term investors.