Economy

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 06:04 UTC

  China forecasted to become Latin America’s second trade partner by 2015

  

  China will become Latin America's second largest trade partner as early as in 2015, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said this week.

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 05:54 UTC

  Italian parliament does its homework and approves sweeping austerity budget

  

  Italy's upper house of parliament has agreed to a sweeping austerity budget in a move intended to allay concerns over a possible bailout. Meanwhile, Greece must come to terms with another ratings downgrade.

• Friday, July 15th 2011 - 02:08 UTC

  S&P warns of a “one in two” chance of downgrading US debt rating

  

  Standard & Poor's has become the latest ratings agency to issue a warning of a possible downgrade to the US's debt rating. It said there was a “one-in-two” chance that it may cut the US's AAA rating if a deal to raise the government's debt ceiling is not agreed upon soon

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 22:53 UTC

  Global economic prospects fragile and downside risks higher, says IMF

  

  The International Monetary Fund called on emerging G-20 economies for a rapid macroeconomic policy tightening and demand rebalancing, while “pragmatic use of macro-prudential tools may be needed to manage large capital inflows”.

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 22:18 UTC

  IMF assessing quality of Argentina’s economic data reporting

  

  IMF said on Wednesday that it is assessing the quality of Argentina's reporting on economic data based on a report presented by the fund’s management which recently visited the country member.

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 22:09 UTC

  Brazil has a “North Sea of oil” along its Atlantic coast, says Petrobras

  

  Brazil’s oil reserves, including recent discoveries in deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean, are of a similar size to those found in the North Sea, said a Petrobras exploration official in an interview in London.

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 22:01 UTC

  Fitch upgrades Uruguay ratings on improved external and fiscal solvency ratios

  

  Uruguay had its foreign currency issuer default rating raised to BB+ from BB by Fitch Ratings, which cited improved external and fiscal solvency ratios. The rating outlook was revised to stable from positive.

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 19:11 UTC

  Faklands government encourages young people to live and work in the Camp

  

  In a bid to encourage young people to live and work in the Camp, the Falkland Islands Training Centre is now offering an Agriculture Apprenticeship following much research and planning that started in early 2010.

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 18:38 UTC

  Gibraltar’s current debt level makes Europeans “green with envy”

  

  Gibraltar’s economy is performing well and its current debt levels are not a cause for concern said Professor Albrecht Ritschl from the London School of Economics interviewed by Radio Gibraltar to provide an independent assessment of the latest economic data presented in the local Parliament last week.

• Thursday, July 14th 2011 - 18:27 UTC

  Bernanke warns Congress of “calamitous outcome” if the US defaults on its debt

  

  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned the United States Congress that overzealous cuts to government spending could derail an already fragile recovery and said a US debt default could wreak financial havoc.