Economy

• Saturday, June 25th 2011 - 07:49 UTC

  Brazil preparing to licence 45 ports to operators; the first Amazon city of Manaus

  

  Brazil's government, which has already begun the process of handing over airports to private investment, is now preparing 45 ports to be licensed to operators, Estado de S Paulo newspaper reported Friday.

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 22:58 UTC

  China says it can control inflation and maintain robust growth

  

  Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has said that China can control inflation and maintain its robust growth. Writing in the Financial Times, Mr Wen said “price rises will be firmly under control this year”.

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 22:44 UTC

  US economy expanded at a 1.9% annual pace in the first quarter

  

  The United States economy grew at a 1.9% pace in the first quarter marking the start of what Federal Reserve policy makers anticipate is a temporary slowdown in growth.

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 22:23 UTC

  FIFA slams Brazil’s slow pace of preparation for the 2014 World Cup

  

  Brazil's slow pace of preparation for the 2014 World Cup has come under attack from FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke. Stadium development plus work on airports and the transport system are lagging well behind schedule.

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 21:58 UTC

  Croatia become the European Union 28th member; final ratification June 2013

  

  European Union leaders said Croatia is ready to become the bloc’s 28th member, signalling peace in the Balkan region.

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 20:15 UTC

  Krugman: “when Argentina tried to act as a serious country, it was “a disaster”

  

  Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman took to his blog in the New York Times to say he didn’t see how Argentina’s default could be seen as a cautionary tale for Greece, and questioned a local economist who assured Argentina was not considered “a serious country.”

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 19:46 UTC

  Potassium mining project that could make Argentina top exporter is suspended

  

  The government of the Argentine province of Mendoza is studying documents presented by Vale that could allow the Brazilian miner to continue with a 4.6 billion US dollars potassium project, said an official in Mendoza.

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 19:08 UTC

  Argentina’s trade surplus in May rose 29%; imports soared 39%

  

  Argentina's trade surplus in May rose 29% from the previous month, thanks to high prices for the country's exports of grains and manufactured goods, the national statistics agency said Thursday.

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 11:07 UTC

  Britain says Brazil has the best science base outside the G8

  

  The UK said that Brazil has the best science base outside the G8, and Brazil’s state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras CEO Jose Sergio Gabrielli predicted that his country will shortly become the world's largest market for deep offshore oceanic hydrocarbon exploration equipment.

• Friday, June 24th 2011 - 10:59 UTC

  Brazil and Spain, leading candidates for next head of FAO

  

  Brazilian and Spanish candidates are leading the field for the Sunday June 26 upcoming election for the next head of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, the UN agency leading the struggle against global hunger.