Economy

• Tuesday, August 30th 2011 - 03:42 UTC

  Business leaders and organized labour ignore Argentina’s official inflation index

  

  Following the agreement which raised the Argentine minimum wage by 25%, equivalent to 549 dollars per month, business leaders and representatives from the labour unions admitted that when it comes to salaries negotiations the official inflation index from the government statistics office, Indec, “is not taken into account”.

• Tuesday, August 30th 2011 - 03:39 UTC

  Argentina expects another car production record next year: a million units

  

  The Argentine automobile industry will expand its production capacity to a million units annually by 2012 following on the expected record production of 840.000 this year boosted by domestic demand and exports to brazil, said Anibal Borderes president of the country’s Automobile Manufacturers Association, Adefa.

• Monday, August 29th 2011 - 08:34 UTC

  Brazil loosing industry to Mercosur members with cheaper costs and lower taxes

  

  Brazilian business and manufacturing leaders are demanding a “fiscal harmonization” of the Mercosur block since other full members are attracting a growing number of Brazilian companies to those countries lured by cheap energy and qualified labour.

• Monday, August 29th 2011 - 08:31 UTC

  Latin American central banks ready to reverse policy and cut interest rates

  

  Latin America’s central banks are coming to the end of steep rises in borrowing costs as the global economic outlook darkens and some are starting to consider policy loosening and interest rate cuts.

• Monday, August 29th 2011 - 08:29 UTC

  Brazil to regulate credit-rating agencies to help them improve quality of their analysis

  

  Brazil Securities and Exchange Commission, CVM, expects to have ready by the end of the year a regulatory framework for risk rating agencies with the purpose of improving the quality of their analysis, said Maria Helena Santana, president of CVM.

• Monday, August 29th 2011 - 03:30 UTC

  “Macroeconomics policies must support growth” warns IMF chief Lagarde

  

  The new head of the IMF urged global policymakers to pursue urgent coordinated action, including the mandatory recapitalization of European banks, or risk descent into renewed world recession.

• Saturday, August 27th 2011 - 07:19 UTC

  Unemployment in Brazil falls to its lowest level this year, 6%

  

  Brazil’s unemployment rate fell in July to its lowest level this year, 6% from 6.2% in June, reported the National statistics office. Average real wages rose 4% from a year ago to 1.613 Real (999.50 dollars) a month.

• Saturday, August 27th 2011 - 07:17 UTC

  Brazil en route to comply comfortably with budget planned primary surplus

  

  Brazil’s budget primary surplus widened in July to a record for the month pushing the year-to-date total to almost 80% of the government’s 2011 target, according to the Central bank.

• Saturday, August 27th 2011 - 07:09 UTC

  S&P upgrades Brazil’s ratings based on “good long-term growth prospects”

  

  Brazil local-currency credit rating is being reviewed for an upgrade by Standard & Poor’s, which cited the country’s economic stability. The rating was affirmed at BBB+, the third-lowest investment grade, S&P said in a statement.

• Saturday, August 27th 2011 - 07:04 UTC

  Brazil ‘unofficially’ lowers 2011 growth estimate to 3.7% from 4%

  

  The Brazilian government has unofficially cut its outlook for 2011 GDP growth given a slowing world economy and unsustainably fast expansion last year, a local newspaper reported on Friday.