Economy

• Thursday, April 14th 2011 - 05:00 UTC

  BRICS members discuss trade grievances with host China

  

  Chinese President Hu Jintao came under pressure from fellow BRICS members Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa to open the Chinese market to goods ranging from Indian drugs to Brazilian planes as leaders gathered on a tropical south China island for a summit.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 23:04 UTC

  EU, Colombia, Peru sign ambitious trade agreement; saves half a billion Euros in tariffs

  

  EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gutch together with Colombian Minister for Trade Sergio Diaz-Granados Guida and Peruvian Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade Carlos Posada Ugaz, celebrated Wednesday in Brussels the initialling of an ambitious trade agreement between the EU, Colombia and Peru.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 23:00 UTC

  Obama unveils his plan to cut the federal budget which includes tax increases

  

  President Barack Obama called for an overhaul of the U.S. tax code for individuals and businesses and said he wants to raise an additional 1 trillion US dollars through tax increases over the next decade.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 22:55 UTC

  Mercosur/EU will exchange proposals in the coming two months, says De Gutch

  

  The European Union and Mercosur currently holding a round of association and trade talks will be exchanging proposals for market access of their list of products in the coming two months, according to the EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 18:34 UTC

  Mercosur to release members’ same criteria macro-economic data beginning June

  

  Beginning June, Mercosur full members will share macro-economic indicators elaborated with the same criteria and which will be released simultaneously, according to reports in the Montevideo press. The initiative was partly financed by the European Union that also played an advisory role.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 18:17 UTC

  EU ‘animal well being’ group warns about Mercosur livestock conditions

  

  The Eurogroup for Animals called on the European Union to demand from Mercosur farmers associations and governments the same ‘animal well-being’ requisites and regulations which their European counterparts must comply with.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 17:06 UTC

  Chile raises basic rate to 4.5%, but more on the pipeline says Capital Economics

  

  The Central Bank of Chile (CBC) hiked interest rates by 50bps to 4.5% on Wednesday but with the near-term outlook for growth very good and inflation likely to top 5% in Q4, further policy tightening is on the way, reports Capital Economics that estimates rates to reach 6% by year-end.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 05:41 UTC

  IMF approves Uruguay’s performance but road ahead has many uncertainties

  

  Uruguay’s growth estimate for this year remains at 5% but is forecasted at 4.2% for 2012 with warnings on the economy’s over-heating, significant inflow of capital and inflation, according to the IMF World Economic Outlook released this week. In 2010 the Uruguayan economy expanded 8.5%.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 05:11 UTC

  US trade deficit shrank in February but with overall trade falling

  

  The US trade deficit shrank in February as imports fell more than exports, according to a government report that suggested a slowdown in global demand. The monthly trade gap totalled 45.8 billion US dollars, down from an upwardly revised estimate of 47 billion in January.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 04:30 UTC

  China and Brazil agree to further expand their strategic partnership

  

  China and Brazil on Tuesday clinched a host of government agreements and economic deals in Beijing to enhance their strategic partnership as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff paid her first state visit to China.