Economy

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 02:41 UTC

  IMF boosts new emergency lending facility ten fold to 550 billion USD

  

  The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Monday a ten-fold expansion of the Fund’s New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and the transformation of the Fund’s premier standing credit arrangement into a more flexible and effective tool of crisis management.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 01:02 UTC

  USDA predicts largest global glut of wheat since 2002

  

  The world will have so much wheat this year that the US farmers could leave every acre unplanted and still have a surplus, a sign of more losses after futures had their worst first quarter in 15 years.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 01:01 UTC

  Brazil’s success with second season crop behind record production of corn

  

  Increased success in second crops is behind the continued strength in Brazil's corn production despite a decline in plantings, the US Department of Agriculture has said.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 00:19 UTC

  Brazilian authorities begin evacuation of shantytown ahead of planned demolitions

  

  Brazilian authorities evacuated thousands of shantytown residents Sunday so their houses could be demolished after heavy rains that killed at least 224 people last week threatened further landslides.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 00:17 UTC

  China reports first trade deficit in 6 years and drastic drop in bank lending

  

  China reported a rare monthly trade deficit for the first time since May 2004. China’s foreign trade was up nearly 43% in March to over 231 billion USD, out of which exports accounted for about 112.1 billion and imports about 119.4 billion.

• Monday, April 12th 2010 - 05:25 UTC

  Argentine Central Bank props the Peso with Euro operations

  

  Argentina has been forced to buy Euros in the local market to control the exchange rate of the US dollar relative to the Peso in a complicated move but necessary to avoid the risk of having additional Central Bank funds seized in New York.

• Monday, April 12th 2010 - 05:23 UTC

  Market test for Greece’s Euro zone and IMF 51 billion USD “soft” loan aid

  

  European finance officials agreed Sunday to make an estimated 41 billion US dollars in loans available to Greece to help fight the threat of default. The loans would be charged at below-market rates to enable Athens to keep its borrowing costs down as it struggles to raise money to finance its runaway public debt.

• Monday, April 12th 2010 - 05:07 UTC

  Gibraltar’s air link with Madrid ceases as Spanish airline goes bankrupt

  

  The bumpy journey of the Spanish airline Andalus Líneas Aéreas has come to an abrupt end following on the week end’s confirmation that the Madrid-Gibraltar air link had been indefinitely suspended, according to an article from the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Saturday, April 10th 2010 - 05:05 UTC

  Rio Tinto joins competitors; agrees to three months iron ore contracts

  

  Rio Tinto has followed rival mining firms and says it is negotiating new iron ore supply contracts priced for three months rather than a year. The move ends years of tradition and is seen as a demonstration of the power the miners have over their customers.

• Saturday, April 10th 2010 - 05:02 UTC

  Paraguay record crop of soybeans: 7.48 million tons

  

  Paraguay announced a record 2009/2010 soybeans crop of 7.48 million tons, which is larger that the 6.8 million tons of 2007/08.