Economy

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 01:32 UTC

  ‘Frozen’ Japanese economy expected to rebound positively in third quarter

  

  Friday's earthquake and tsunami have left parts of Japan's economy “frozen”, but analysts forecast that it will bounce back later this year. Some of the country's leading producers, including the world's biggest carmaker, Toyota, have closed all of their plants in the country.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 00:41 UTC

  Fed leaves rates unchanged with the US economy on a ‘firmer footing’ recovery

  

  Arguing that the US economic recovery is on a firmer footing, and overall conditions in the labour market appear to be improving gradually, the Federal Reserve on Tuesday left interest rates unchanged at a record low of zero to 0.25% since December 2008.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 23:49 UTC

  Mercosur claims EU is willing to continue negotiations, but requests more time

  

  Mercosur was prepared to listen to proposals on liberalizing trade, but the European Union requested more time and continue working with the negotiations, according to Mercosur delegates attending the trade talks with EU in Brussels.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 23:47 UTC

  Cuba devalues currency 8% to boost exports and imports substitution process

  

  Cuba devalued its convertible peso by 8% Monday to the level of parity with the US dollar as part of efforts to boost the island's flagging economy, the central bank said. Use of the convertible peso is limited to tourists and other foreigners, for Cubans who receive remittances from abroad and for export activity

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 23:38 UTC

  EU chief negotiator admits ‘complications’ but confident of a trade accord with Mercosur

  

  A strongly worded resolution from Members of the European Parliament earlier this month outlining their concerns over agriculture does not represent a setback for EU-Mercosur trade talks, the EU chief negotiator said in Brussels.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 10:16 UTC

  China became world’s top manufacturing nation, ending 110 year US leadership

  

  China has ended a 110-year-long US leadership, overtaking the country as the world's top manufacturing nation in 2010, reports quoting a research report by US-based consultancy IHS Global Insight said.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 10:09 UTC

  FAO organizing seminars world wide to help respond to the escalating food prices

  

  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, is running a series of seminars in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Near East to help governments to make informed decisions on how to respond to high food prices which are becoming increasingly destabilizing.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 10:04 UTC

  North Korea with FAO and OIE aid combating trans-boundary FMD outbreaks

  

  North Korea has accepted a team of animal health specialists from FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to assist veterinary authorities in combating outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth disease among pigs and cattle, which seem to be endemic in the country.

• Monday, March 14th 2011 - 06:50 UTC

  Brazil preparing plan to stimulate industry and cut knick-knack Chinese imports

  

  Brazil imports too many knick-knacks from China complained Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, who next month makes an official state visit to the Asian giant, according to reports in the Sao Paulo press

• Monday, March 14th 2011 - 03:52 UTC

  Russian oligarchs turn Moscow to the world’s billionaire capital

  

  Russian oligarchs are back with a bang, making Moscow officially the world’s billionaire capital. Profiting from the recent commodity boom, the number of the country’s billionaires — most of whom built their empires during Russia’s anarchic 1990s — grew two thirds to 101, from last year’s 62, according to Forbes.