Economy

• Tuesday, December 7th 2010 - 08:21 UTC

  Bank of Nova Scotia confirms acquisition of leading institution in Uruguay

  

  Bank of Nova Scotia, the Canadian bank that is aggressively expanding its presence in Latin America, is now pushing into Uruguay with the acquisition of private bank Nuevo Banco Comercial and consumer-finance company Pronto, it said on Monday.

• Tuesday, December 7th 2010 - 08:06 UTC

  Mercosur and Syria scheduled to begin trade negotiations at next summit

  

  Mercosur and Syria are scheduled to sign an agreement to begin trade negotiations at the group’s next summit in Brazil, December 15, according to official sources in Damascus. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad earlier this year visited South America to promote trade and political links, particularly with Brazil that has a large Syrian community.

• Monday, December 6th 2010 - 05:23 UTC

  EU governments’ support for financial sector 4.5 tr Euros; UK top of the list

  

  European Union states have underwritten their financial sectors with 4.5 trillion Euros of aid since the banking crisis hit. Top of the league is the UK, which pledged 850.3bn Euros of support between October 2008 and October 2010.

• Monday, December 6th 2010 - 05:17 UTC

  Federal Reserve names banks that appealed to its emergency loans

  

  The US Federal Reserve has named the companies that used its emergency loan facilities during the financial crisis and revealed how much they borrowed. Details of more than 21,000 transactions aimed at stabilising financial markets have been posted on the Fed's website.

• Monday, December 6th 2010 - 05:15 UTC

  Germany reaffirms commitment to Euro as markets test EU monetary union

  

  German Finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said financial markets are currently testing whether the Euro zone will survive but he insisted the 16-nation monetary union won't break up. However he also warned about the risk of the emergence of an anti-Euro party.

• Sunday, December 5th 2010 - 16:33 UTC

  Drastic budget cuts anticipated if Brazil is to consolidate 3.3% of GDP surplus

  

  The incoming Brazilian administration next January first will have to implement a tougher program of savings than President Lula da Silva in 2003 if the primary budget surplus is to consolidate at 3.3% of GDP in 2011, according to economists from the prestigious think-tank Getulio Vargas Foundation, FGV.

• Saturday, December 4th 2010 - 02:59 UTC

  China, Brazil announce “macro-prudent” measures to cut liquidity, tighten credit

  

  Two of the strongest emerging economies Brazil and China announced Friday measures to withdraw liquidity tighten credit and contain inflation. Brazil’s “macro-prudent” measures are geared to cut on money circulation, while China said monetary emphasis will change from “relatively loose” to “prudent”.

• Friday, December 3rd 2010 - 06:29 UTC

  Uruguay headed for a record year in exports; Brazil main trade partner

  

  Uruguay’s exports jumped 23.3% during the first eleven months of 2010, anticipating a new value record for the year. Exports totalled 6.1 billion US dollars between January-November compared to 4.95 billion in the same period a year earlier and are higher than the twelve month previous record of 6.1 billion in 2008, according to Uruguay’s Exporters’ Union.

• Friday, December 3rd 2010 - 06:18 UTC

  IMF chiefs rules out double-dip recession, praises South American countries

  

  IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn ruled out any possibility of an impending double-dip recession even as he warned against downward risks posing the countries while they were recuperating, albeit languidly.

• Friday, December 3rd 2010 - 06:13 UTC

  IMF prepares for crisis scenario: plans to double lending capacity to 450 billion

  

  IMF expects to double its lending capacity to 450 billion US dollars over the next few months, giving it additional firepower to deal with the sovereign-debt crisis engulfing Europe, according to IMF officials and documents.