Economy

• Friday, September 9th 2011 - 15:49 UTC

  ECB sovereign bond purchasing policy splits ECB; Germans quit in protest

  

  The European Central Bank in Frankfurt confirmed in a Friday afternoon statement that its chief economist and executive board member Jürgen Stark had resigned “due to personal reasons.”

• Friday, September 9th 2011 - 15:28 UTC

  UK will reinforce and expand presence in Latin America, says Hague

  

  The UK will reinforce and expand its diplomatic presence in Latin America beefing up embassies and reopening others that have been closed in recent years, said Foreign Secretary William Hague.

• Friday, September 9th 2011 - 09:46 UTC

  Brazil’s Embraer will develop and produce unmanned drones with Israeli tech

  

  Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s fourth-biggest aircraft maker, announced Thursday an agreement with Israel’s Elbit Systems to develop and produce unmanned drones in the country.

• Friday, September 9th 2011 - 09:37 UTC

  Republicans say Obama 450bn jobs plan proposals “merit consideration”

  

  President Barack Obama urged Thursday evening a joint session of the US Congress to end what he calls the “political circus” in Washington, and move rapidly to approve job creation legislation he is sending to Capitol Hill. There was no official rebuttal from the opposition Republicans.

• Friday, September 9th 2011 - 09:33 UTC

  US trade deficit drops significantly in July as exports climb and oil prices fall

  

  The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services dropped 13.1% in July to 44.8 billion dollars, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

• Friday, September 9th 2011 - 02:53 UTC

  OECD urges from G7 and G20 strong signals of leadership and confidence

  

  The outlook for economic growth in developed countries has got much worse in the last three months, the OECD said Thursday, urging leaders of G7 and G20 countries to send strong signals to restore flagging confidence.

• Friday, September 9th 2011 - 01:03 UTC

  Trichet anticipates EU flat growth next 18 months; falls short of ‘new recession’

  

  The Euro fell to a two-month low against the dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank signalled a pause in its interest-rate tightening cycle that began just five months ago.

• Thursday, September 8th 2011 - 22:24 UTC

  World food prices hold steady at near record; cereals climb further, says FAO

  

  World food prices remained virtually unchanged between July and August 2011 according to the FAO Food Price Index published Thursday. The Index averaged 231 points last month compared to 232 points in July. It was 26% higher than in August 2010 but seven points below its all-time high of 238 points in February 2011.

• Thursday, September 8th 2011 - 22:21 UTC

  Fitch warns it might downgrade China and Japan ratings, but who rates Fitch?

  

  Fitch Ratings warned that it might downgrade China's credit rating within two years as the country's banks struggle with debt loads following a lending surge to help lift the economy during the 2008 financial crisis.

• Thursday, September 8th 2011 - 22:17 UTC

  China and UK to develop offshore trading hub for the Yuan in London

  

  China and the UK are to develop an offshore trading hub for the Yuan based in London. UK Chancellor George Osborne confirmed the agreement after meeting with Chinese vice-premier Wang Qishan in London.