Economy

• Thursday, December 9th 2010 - 07:24 UTC

  Uruguay, Mexico and Chile have the most numerous middle-class in Latam

  

  According to the 2011 Latin American Economic Outlook report released on Dec. 3 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Chile has the third highest percentage of middle-class citizens in Latin America.

• Thursday, December 9th 2010 - 07:18 UTC

  Heavy rains force temporary suspension of traffic in the Panama Canal

  

  Heavy rains have forced the temporary suspension of traffic along the Panama Canal, the major shipping waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans which handles 5% of global trade.

• Wednesday, December 8th 2010 - 17:11 UTC

  US dollar to strengthen, but US fiscal health worse than Europe’s warns China

  

  The U.S. dollar will be a safe investment for the next six to 12 months because global markets are focused on the Euro zone's troubles but the US fiscal health is worse than Europe's, an adviser to the Chinese central bank said on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, December 8th 2010 - 07:19 UTC

  Obama defends tax deal with Republicans: “real money for real people”

  

  President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the tentative tax deal he struck with Republicans is a good deal for the American people and a long political fight over tax cuts would have been bad for the US economy.

• Wednesday, December 8th 2010 - 05:07 UTC

  Argentina discovers in Patagonia largest gas reserve in 35 years

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was in charge of leading the Tuesday ceremony in which Repsol-YPF announced the discovery of a massive shale gas reserve, the largest in 35 years that could help the country reduce its imports of the fuel.

• Wednesday, December 8th 2010 - 04:56 UTC

  IMF criticizes Europe’s disjointed response to the Euro debt crisis

  

  The head of the International Monetary Fund criticized Europe's disjointed response to the Euro zone debt crisis after Germany and other states resisted his calls for bolder action.

• Wednesday, December 8th 2010 - 00:58 UTC

  Higher rates expected to dent into Brazil’s booming auto sales

  

  Interest rates on financing car sales without a down payment have almost doubled in Brazil following last week’s liquidity tightening measures from the central bank, reports O Estado de Sao Paulo, adding that higher financial costs could dent automobile sales by as much as 20%.

• Tuesday, December 7th 2010 - 19:27 UTC

  Lula da Silva promises to veto bill on oil royalties sharing plan

  

  Brazilian President Lula da Silva said on Tuesday he would veto a plan to change the distribution of oil royalties among state governments, paving the way for the implementation of a legal overhaul of Brazil's oil sector.

• Tuesday, December 7th 2010 - 18:46 UTC

  US Treasury admits making 12 billion profit with Citigroup rescue package

  

  The US Treasury has sold its remaining stake in Citigroup, in a deal which it says will make a 12 billion USD profit on its overall investment. Citigroup was one of the worst victims of the financial crisis, and the US government stepped in with 45 billion bail-out cash in 2008 and 2009.

• Tuesday, December 7th 2010 - 08:29 UTC

  Chinese credit rating agency gives Uruguay grade BB+ for local and foreign currency

  

  A Chinese credit rating agency issued the sovereign credit ratings for Ireland and four other countries including Uruguay, assigning Ireland the BBB grade for both local currency and foreign currency with a stable outlook.
  The other four countries rated are Finland, Uruguay, Kenya and Sudan.