Economy

• Thursday, March 17th 2011 - 17:41 UTC

  Brazil real estate boom: 9.1m middle class families plan to buy in next 12 months

  

  A total of 9.1 million families plan to buy real estate in Brazil over the next 12 months which is a huge increase since the Minha Casa Minha Vida (My House, My Life) program was introduced in 2009

• Thursday, March 17th 2011 - 15:34 UTC

  Brazil tightens land acquisition by foreigners: ‘speculators and sovereign funds’

  

  The Brazilian government is tightening a law that restricts the amount of land foreigners can buy. The decree prohibits non-Brazilians from buying controlling shares of companies that own vast tracts of territory in the country, Brazilian Attorney General Luiz Inacio Adams said in a statement this week.

• Thursday, March 17th 2011 - 15:27 UTC

  Brazilian industry creates a Chinese Studies Centre to monitor bilateral trade

  

  Brazil’s powerful Federation of Industries of Sao Paulo State (Fiesp) is set to create a Chinese Studies Centre in partnership with the federal government, the president of the federation said in Sao Paulo.

• Thursday, March 17th 2011 - 05:34 UTC

  US current account deficit totaled 470.2bn last year, 3.2% of GDP

  

  The current-account deficit in the U.S. narrowed 9.7% to 113.3 billion US dollars in the fourth quarter, reflecting an increase in exports. The deficit for all of last year widened to 470.2 billion USD or 3.2% of GDP from 2.7% in 2009.

• Thursday, March 17th 2011 - 00:51 UTC

  Hours before Obama arrives, Brazil reaffirms its commitment is with Mercosur

  

  When US president Barack Omaba lands in Brazil next Saturday the emphasis of the visit will be on deepening economic relations and potential business opportunities, but Brazil has made it plain clear that any free trade talks with the United States can only take place in the framework of Mercosur.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 23:28 UTC

  UK unemployment hits 17-year high: 2.5 million Brits out of a job

  

  The number of unemployed in the UK has hit a 17-year high of more than 2.5 million and pushed the unemployment rate to 8%, official data showed Wednesday.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 14:55 UTC

  Economists downgrade Brazilian 2011 growth to 4.1%; government insists 5%

  

  The Brazilian government said GDP is expected to grow by more than 5% a year through 2014. The Finance Ministry says in a release argued that increased long term investments by the private sector will be fundamental in achieving the projected growth.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 14:38 UTC

  MEP warns on dangers to Scotland of ‘cheap meat’ imports from Mercosur

  

  European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos has been warned of the dangers facing Scotland if the EU opens its markets to large quantities of ‘cheap meat’ imports from Mercosur, reports the Farmers’ Guardían.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 05:10 UTC

  February inflation in Argentina, 0.7%; private estimates double that percentage

  

  Inflation in Argentina advanced 0.7% in February over the previous month pushed mainly by increases in the clothing sector (2.2%) and leisure activities (3.5%), according to the official Indec National Statistics Bureau. During the first two months of the year, the consumer prices index accumulated 1.5%.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 03:05 UTC

  Japanese stocks rebound; central bank injects 326 billion USD in three days

  

  Japanese stocks rebounded Wednesday as concerns over the long-term impact of Friday's earthquake and tsunami on Japan's economy ease.