
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.

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.

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

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”.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.