Economy

• Thursday, October 6th 2011 - 02:16 UTC

  Uruguayan auto assembly industry exempt of Brazil’s IPI 30% tax increase

  

  In the framework of the so called Plan Maior, Brazil adopted measures to stimulate its industry with the purpose of increasing productivity and containing competition from Chinese produce in its domestic market.

• Thursday, October 6th 2011 - 01:55 UTC

  “Mercosur won’t destroy European agriculture”, says EU business lobby

  

  The head of Business-Europe International Relations said Wednesday that a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur “would not destroy European agriculture” in spite of fears from farmers.

• Wednesday, October 5th 2011 - 22:05 UTC

  Canadian rating agency upgrades Argentina, but warns about external shock

  

  DBRS rating agency from Canada upgraded on Wednesday its ratings on Argentina's long-term foreign and local currency securities to “B” from B (low). The trends have been revised to Stable.

• Wednesday, October 5th 2011 - 21:44 UTC

  Global financial crisis “starting to affect” Argentina says manufacturers union

  

  The head of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA), José Ignacio de Mendiguren, warned on Wednesday that Argentina “is starting to be affected” by the global financial crisis, furthering that the country “is not protected” against the situation.

• Wednesday, October 5th 2011 - 21:39 UTC

  Operation Fire Wall: IMF will also chip in funds to protect Spain and Italy

  

  The International Monetary Fund could buy Spanish or Italian bonds alongside the Euro zone bailout fund if needed, to help boost investor confidence in those countries, the IMF Europe head Antonio Borges said on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, October 5th 2011 - 08:26 UTC

  Anaemic Spain: no end in sight for soaring unemployment

  

  The number of people filing for unemployment benefits in Spain shot up by nearly 100,000 in September, a surprisingly big increase even in a month that tends to be bad for workers as vacation season contracts expires.

• Wednesday, October 5th 2011 - 08:02 UTC

  Corporations call for ambitious EU/Mercosur deal and hope farm issues do not ‘derail the project’

  

  Major European corporations called on political leaders for an “ambitious and balanced” European Union-Mercosur trade agreement and asked that ‘agriculture issues’ impacts do not derail the project.

• Wednesday, October 5th 2011 - 07:52 UTC

  Wool prices suffer considerable tumble in September but still above a year ago

  

  Wool prices suffered a considerable tumble during September in line with the bearish market for commodities as a result of global economic uncertainty, although values are still considerably higher than a year ago.

• Wednesday, October 5th 2011 - 07:46 UTC

  US congress bipartisan support for trade agreements with Colombia, Korea and Panama

  

  United States industry leaders have welcomed words of encouragement from Republican congressional leaders that have given new hope for implementation of proposed US free trade agreements (FTA) with Korea, Colombia and Panama.

• Tuesday, October 4th 2011 - 20:38 UTC

  Weaker Real expected to bolster Brazil’s meat sector exports

  

  A weaker Brazilian Real should give companies in Brazil's meat sector more flexibility to increase export volumes and could also provide a short-term boost to margins.