Economy

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 04:48 UTC

  Greece warned aid package means significant losses of “sovereignty” and jobs

  

  Euro zone finance ministers have approved a 12 billion euro instalment of Greece's bailout, but signalled that the nation must expect significant losses of sovereignty and jobs.

• Monday, July 4th 2011 - 04:32 UTC

  Brazilian government conditions support for major retail chain merger

  

  BNDES bank will not put up the 2.4 billion US dollars it pledged for the merger of Brazil's biggest retailers, Grupo Pao de Acucar and France's Carrefour, unless France’s Casino is on board, bank president Luciano Coutinho said in a local magazine.

• Saturday, July 2nd 2011 - 06:06 UTC

  ”You can vote for Cristina with your pocket, heart or mind” says Boudou

  

  “You can vote for Cristina (Kirchner) with your pocket, your heart or with your mind” because the Argentine economy has advanced in all fields, said the country’s Economy minister and vice President candidate for next October election, Amado Boudou.

• Saturday, July 2nd 2011 - 05:59 UTC

  Uruguay raises 2011 growth forecast to 6% and inflation to 7.8%

  

  Uruguay has raised its 2011 economic growth forecast to 6% and its inflation to 7.8%, according to a government document published on Friday. The previous estimate was 4.5% and full year inflation of 6%.

• Saturday, July 2nd 2011 - 05:50 UTC

  “Cooling the economy or appreciating the currency” backfire for developing countries

  

  Central bank president Mercedes Marcó del Pont defended on Friday Argentina’s current economic policies, particularly efforts to address the international crisis arguing that “cooling the economy or letting the currency appreciate only aggravates the crisis”.

• Saturday, July 2nd 2011 - 05:28 UTC

  London and Chilean stock exchanges are in the process of integration

  

  Finance Minister Felipe Larraín advanced efforts to integrate the Chilean and London stock exchanges during a recent visit to the United Kingdom. A delegation of government officials and business leaders accompanied the minister on his trip to promote foreign investment in Chile.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 15:46 UTC

  Expected bumper crop in US makes corn prices suffer its biggest fall in 15 years

  

  The price of corn suffered its biggest fall for 15 years on Thursday, prompting speculation that the high cost of food may start to ease. Corn prices dropped 10% after a US Department of Agriculture report that farmers are sowing unexpectedly large amounts of the grain.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 15:31 UTC

  EU and Mercosur resume ‘formal’ trade negotiations next week

  

  European Union and Mercosur delegates are scheduled to meet next week in Brussels for another round of negotiations with the purpose of reaching a trade agreement.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 13:04 UTC

  Renault plans to increase car production in Argentina by 60%

  

  French auto maker Renault has plans to invest 400 million Pesos (100 million US dollars) to produce a new model geared towards the Mercosur market, Argentina's industry minister Debora Giorgi announced this week.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 12:51 UTC

  Argentina is promoting the idea of an OPEC-like for lithium

  

  Argentina is promoting the idea of an OPEC-like cartel for itself, Bolivia and Chile, which together control 85% of the world's reserves of lithium, a key component in electric car batteries.