Economy

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 17:42 UTC

  Colombian group takes over Uruguay main supermarkets chain, Disco and Devoto

  

  France’s Casino Guichard-Perrachon Colombian retailing branch, Exito announced the signing of a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of Casino' majority stakes in Uruguay’s main supermarket chain Disco and Devoto in an operation involving 746 million US dollars.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 17:12 UTC

  Magallanes Corriedale rams with NZ genetics exported to Peru

  

  Magallanes Region in the extreme south of Chile is exporting rams to Peru to help improve the meat and wool conditions of the flock of that country. The first batch of ten rams was dispatched by the Teheul Aike rural society, via Santiago and has already reached their destination in Puno.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 16:47 UTC

  Mercosur plans coordinate tariffs mechanism to contain “unexpected surge of imports”

  

  Brazil’s proposal to Mercosur members of a coordinated tariffs’ package with the purpose of containing unexpected imports surges, particularly of cheap products, from Europe, Asia and the United States is to be implemented in the second half of the year.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 16:44 UTC

  Uruguay calls on Sao Paulo corporations to help develop (not colonize) Mercosur

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica called on Sao Paulo corporations to cooperate with the development of Mercosur partners by adopting a policy of alliances with local companies and leaving aside ‘colonizing’ temptations.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 07:23 UTC

  Brazil calls for conclusion of EU/Mercosur trade talks and warns about cheap imports

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said it was urgent for Mercosur/European Union trade negotiations to conclude although also emphasizing the need to promote and intensive South/South relations, but warning that some outer region countries are intent in “sending us what they can’t sell in developed countries”.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 07:17 UTC

  UN Economic Commission raises Latam’s growth estimate: 4.5% to 5%

  

  The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Eclac, raised its 2011 growth estimate for the region to between 4.5% and 5%, said Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 06:58 UTC

  IMF urges a political agreement on the US federal debt ceiling

  

  Failure by US lawmakers to agree soon on a deal to raise the government's borrowing limit could deliver a “severe shock” to a still fragile recovery and global markets, the International Monetary Fund warned.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 06:53 UTC

  Trade problems between Brazil and Argentina ‘persist’, but can be managed

  

  Trade problems between Mercosur two main partners ‘subsist’, but both sides are optimistic that they can be solved. The revelation in the framework of the Mercosur summit follows weeks of discussions and paralyzing trade, sometimes for weeks at the borders.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 00:28 UTC

  Mercosur wants Bolivia and Ecuador to become full members

  

  Mercosur plans to begin negotiations with associate members Bolivia and Ecuador to make them full members, said Brazilian Foreign Affairs minister Antonio Patriota during Wednesday’s presidential summit in Paraguay.

• Wednesday, June 29th 2011 - 16:42 UTC

  Greek parliament approves austerity measures, preventing first Euro zone default

  

  Greece's parliament approved early Wednesday deeply unpopular austerity measures despite worsening violence, in a vote vital toward securing international funds and preventing the Euro zone's first sovereign default.