Economy

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 23:32 UTC

  Brazil unveils plan and incentives to boost ethanol production

  

  Brazil's government unveiled new financing and other incentives for sugar cane ethanol production, vowing to work closely with the private sector to boost production in an industry that has struggled recently despite its immense promise.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 23:09 UTC

  GM bets strongly in South American market: 1.5 million cars per annum by 2015

  

  General Motors expects to sell 1.5 million vehicles a year in South America by 2015, up from 1.03 million last year, according to the head of the largest U.S. automaker's operations in the region.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 23:03 UTC

  Rocketing values for cattle in Brazil anticipate ‘beef prices will remain high’

  

  World beef prices look set to stay high long term given the rocketing prices of raising cattle in Brazil, and the lack of an obvious successor as the world's low-cost producer.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 16:36 UTC

  Uruguay considers China a ‘strategic partner’ and supports a Beijing-Mercosur trade accord

  

  Uruguay sees China as a ‘strategic partner’ and has kept good relations with Beijing since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1988, said Uruguayan Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro, a former ambassador to China from 2007-2009. Almagro made the statement as Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping begun his official visit to Uruguay.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:09 UTC

  IMF chief hopeful Lagarde in China after a ‘no commitment’ from India

  

  French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is expected in Beijing after having visited India where officials made a ‘no commitment’ in support of her IMF candidacy. On the weekend her whirlwind global tour takes her to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 03:14 UTC

  “A Lula da Silva man steps down; a Dilma woman moves in”

  

  Brazilian Senator Gleisi Helena Hoffmann, 45, wife of Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo has been chosen by President Dilma Rousseff to replace outcast Antonio Palocci as chief of staff.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 02:28 UTC

  Embattled Palocci, the most influential official in Brazil’s cabinet, resigns

  

  Brazil’s embattled Chief of Staff Antonio Palocci described by fellow ministers as the most influential official in President Dilma Rousseff's government resigned on Tuesday to prevent a scandal over his finances from becoming an ongoing distraction for the administration.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 02:17 UTC

  Uruguayan homes pay highest power rates and fuel prices in South America

  

  Uruguayan homes pay the dearest rates for power in South America and the highest fuel prices in the region, including taxes, according to a paper from the Argentine energy consultants Montamat & Asociados, released last month.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 00:09 UTC

  Argentine debt expert forecasts significant “hair cuts” for Greek bond holders

  

  Holders of Greek bonds will suffer a larger ‘hair cut’ than that experienced by Argentine creditors forecasts Argentina’s former Finance Secretary Guillermo Nielsen who played a crucial role in negotiations with creditors following the 2002 default.

• Tuesday, June 7th 2011 - 23:06 UTC

  Brazil inflation slows down in May; Central bank decides Wednesday on rates

  

  Brazilian inflation slowed to its lowest level in eight months in May as fuel costs dropped. The sharp drop in the monthly inflation reading provided relief to policymakers who have battled surging prices this year with three interest rate hikes, public spending cuts and steps such as credit curbs to take steam out of the economy.