Economy

Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 23:39 UTC
Euro-zone tightens budget rules; bail-out facility will buy bonds directly from governments

European leaders widened the scope of the Euro’s rescue fund, authorized it to buy government bonds and eased the terms of Greek bailout loans as they unexpectedly pushed through fresh measures to end the bloc’s debt crisis.
Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 06:05 UTC
Head of Bovespa warns about capital controls to stem currency gains

Emerging markets face a “definitive danger” from accelerating inflation and should resist the temptation to impose capital controls to stem currency gains, said Arminio Fraga, the head of Brazil’s stock exchange and a former central bank president.
Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:52 UTC
US beef, pork, poultry and turkey production forecasted to increase in 2011

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates report projecting US beef, pork, poultry and turkey production to increase across the board in 2011, while also projecting higher prices for livestock and meat products.
Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:21 UTC
Japan begins huge relief effort: hundreds killed but more feared disappeared

A mammoth relief mission is swinging into action in north-east Japan, a day after it was struck by a devastating tsunami, claiming hundreds of lives. Whole villages have been washed away and at least one town has been largely destroyed.
Friday, March 11th 2011 - 04:43 UTC
How Argentina torpedoed Uruguay’s FTA with the US, according to Wikileaks

Although in public former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner was supportive of Uruguay’s negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, members of his cabinet warned the US embassy in Buenos Aires that Argentina would block such an initiative in Mercosur, according to the contents of several Wikileaks cables published in Montevideo and Buenos Aires.
Friday, March 11th 2011 - 01:48 UTC
In spite of inflation, Bank of England leaves interest rates at record low 0.5%

UK interest rates have been held again at their record low of 0.5% by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee. There has now been no change to the Bank rate for two years, despite the fact that inflation is currently twice the Bank's target rate.
Friday, March 11th 2011 - 01:23 UTC
European Parliament casts uncertainty over EU/Mercosur trade talks

This week’s strong statement from the European Parliament warning about concessions that ‘can adversely affect European farmers’, precisely a week before Mercosur and EU delegates meet in Brussels to advance trade discussions has caused a certain degree of uncertainty among the South American group delegates.
Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 22:32 UTC
Massive inflow of foreign capital into Brazil during first two months of 2011

The inflow of US dollars to Brazil so far this year (Jan-March 4) marks a surplus of 24.3 billion USD over outflows, which helped to further appreciate the Brazilian Real, according to the latest figures released by the Central Bank.
Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 21:25 UTC
US trade deficit soars to 46.3 billion in spite of record exports

Stock markets have fallen after figures showed the US trade deficit had widened much more than expected in January. The US Commerce Department said the deficit had widened to 46.3 billion US dollars from 40.3 billion USD in December.
Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 21:20 UTC
Rare trade deficit in China; conflicting opinions as to the reasons

Chinese trade figures released Thursday show a surprising deficit for February, as export growth slowed and import numbers remained strong. Chinese statistics released Thursday show that the country registered a trade deficit in February of 7.3 billion US dollars.