Economy

• Saturday, July 23rd 2011 - 01:53 UTC

  Argentine president called IMF chief and had a half hour conversation

  

  The IMF confirmed that Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner phoned incoming Managing Director Christine Lagarde last week, a few hours before the Fund reiterated its objections to Argentina’s official statistical data.

• Friday, July 22nd 2011 - 15:53 UTC

  Confirmed: Copper for another century at Chile’s main Escondida mine

  

  The giant miner BHP Billiton announced this week a 129% increase in the mineral resource at and around Chile’s Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine.

• Friday, July 22nd 2011 - 06:20 UTC

  Brazil: record low unemployment and more job-creation in second half anticipated

  

  Brazil’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest since January in spite of efforts by policy makers to cool growth and inflation in Latin America’s biggest economy. The jobless rate fell to 6.2% in June, from 6.4% in May and 7% a year earlier, the national statistics agency said in a report distributed in Rio de Janeiro.

• Friday, July 22nd 2011 - 06:09 UTC

  Slower truck sales in Brazil hit Sweden’s Scania second quarter profit

  

  Swedish truck-maker Scania controlled by Germany’s Volkswagen, reported second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as orders in Brazil slowed. Net income in the quarter rose to 2.43 billion kronor (380 million USD) from 2.37 billion kronor a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

• Friday, July 22nd 2011 - 01:59 UTC

  Weak Spanish government conditions enthusiasm for an EU/Mercosur deal

  

  The Spanish government's enthusiasm for an European Union free-trade agreement with Mercosur remains solid and Madrid seems willing to put some sectors of agriculture at risk in exchange for access to new markets for the country's multinationals.

• Friday, July 22nd 2011 - 00:25 UTC

  Paris-Berlin soften rescue terms admit “selective default” and announce Euro IMF

  

  Euro zone leaders agreed at an emergency summit on Thursday to give their financial rescue fund sweeping new powers to help Greece overcome its debt crisis and prevent market instability from spreading through the region.

• Thursday, July 21st 2011 - 23:45 UTC

  Latam regional integration is “too slow” given the challenges says UN expert

  

  The current regional integration of Latin America is too slow in light of the challenges the region faces, a United Nations economic agency official said on Wednesday, calling for greater efforts to rev up the process.

• Thursday, July 21st 2011 - 10:16 UTC

  Uruguay economy expands 6.8% in the first quarter and domestic demand, 8.3%

  

  Following on an 8.5% growth rate in 2010, Uruguay’s real GDP continued to expand 6.8% in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period of 2010, according to the Central bank Debt Management Unit.

• Thursday, July 21st 2011 - 10:09 UTC

  Brazil raises the basic rate to 12.50%, but confident it can tame inflation

  

  Brazil’s central bank announced late Wednesday the fifth straight increase in its benchmark Selic rate by a quarter points to 12.5%, a decision much anticipated by the market and geared to combat high inflation, which is running at a six-year high, 6.75% above the government’s upper target of 6.5%.

• Thursday, July 21st 2011 - 01:40 UTC

  Humala seems ready to accept Peruvian economy is robust and on the right track

  

  In a week’s time Ollanta Humala takes office in Peru as president for the next five years.