Economy

• Friday, September 23rd 2011 - 07:33 UTC

  Greek default would expose European banks in 300 billion Euros

  

  History's first sovereign default came in the 4th century BC, committed by 10 Greek municipalities. There was one creditor: the temple of Delos, Apollo's mythical birthplace.

• Friday, September 23rd 2011 - 07:27 UTC

  US and EU markets negative sentiment extends to Asian stocks with record losses

  

  Asian stocks have fallen on Friday, with some indexes driving towards their worst weekly losses since 2008. The Group of 20 nations said they were ready to preserve stability in the financial markets.

• Friday, September 23rd 2011 - 07:24 UTC

  Euro debt crisis and US political division ‘biggest threats’ to global economy

  

  US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that the European debt crisis and the political divisions in the United States were the biggest threats to the global economy.

• Friday, September 23rd 2011 - 01:41 UTC

  IMF chief wants “constructive dialogue” with Argentina but warns about stats

  

  The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said on Thursday that she wants a “constructive dialogue” with Argentina, while at the same time warned that she is not willing to make any “concessions” in terms of the quality of official data the IMF receives from member countries.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2011 - 22:42 UTC

  Brazil’s August unemployment stable at 6% in tight labour market

  

  Brazil’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6% in August, a record low for the month while average real wages rose 0.5% from the previous months to 1,629.40 Reais (839.16 US dollars) a month, the government statistics agency IBGE report showed.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2011 - 22:17 UTC

  IMF re-activates resource pool of 571 billion for another six months

  

  The International Monetary Fund re-activated this week a 571 billion dollars resource pool to ensure it has funds to help cover Europe's worsening sovereign-debt crisis. The IMF extended activation of its so-called New Arrangements to Borrow for a six-month period from October.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2011 - 21:52 UTC

  Brazil to the rescue of the Real which is down 17% against the dollar in 4 weeks

  

  Brazil's central bank unexpectedly acted to halt the currency's slide on Thursday, highlighting growing concern among officials that the global financial crisis is damaging Brazil's economy and could cause a potentially destructive spurt in inflation.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2011 - 08:36 UTC

  IMF will use private and provincial data to gauge Argentine economy

  

  The International Monetary Fund will use estimates from the private sector and provincial governments to measure economic growth and inflation in Argentina, underscoring the IMF distrust of official data.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2011 - 07:42 UTC

  Latin America and the Caribbean’s Long-Term Growth: Made in China?

  

  Robust growth over the past decade in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has had one new, key driver: China. The region’s relationship with the Asian giant has proved to be a critical source of stability, both during the global economic crisis of two years ago, the greatest since the Great Depression, and even the current market turmoil that is rolling across Europe and the United States.

• Wednesday, September 21st 2011 - 21:28 UTC

  Fed injects more ‘accommodation’ liquidity to bonds’ market and housing

  

  With three dissenting members the Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday further efforts to prop the US economy launching an accommodation program to put more downward pressure on long-term interest rates and increase its support for housing.