Economy

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 18:38 UTC

  Bank of England ratifies current monetary policy

  

  The Bank of England kept on Thursday the interest rate on hold and announced no change to current monetary policy. The cost of borrowing has now stayed at 0.5% for more than a year as the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee attempts to keep a fragile recovery on track.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 04:10 UTC

  Chavez announce rainfall in central Venezuela will help reverse energy crisis

  

  Heavy downpours that have swept away two people and flooded homes in central Venezuela were hailed by President Hugo Chavez as an early start to the rainy season that may mark the end of an extended electricity crisis.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 01:24 UTC

  Soaring car sales confirm strong rebound of the Brazilian economy

  

  Automobile output in Brazil soared in March as manufacturers ramped up production to keep up with record sales fuelled by a strong economic rebound, the national automakers' association Anfavea said on Wednesday.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 01:22 UTC

  Ford will invest 250 million USD in Argentina targeting Mercosur

  

  Ford Motor said it will spend 250 million US dollars on its operations in Argentina, where it will start production of a new vehicle for the Mercosur market. President and Chief Executive Alan Mulally announced the plan Wednesday during a meeting in Buenos Aires with Argentina President Cristina Fernandez.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 01:18 UTC

  Daimler, Renault, Nissan seal alliance to lower costs, expand in European market

  

  German auto major Daimler-Benz and Franco-Japanese alliance Renault-Nissan on Wednesday announced a three-way tie-up, including equity swaps, for co-operation in development of small cars and light commercial vehicles.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 00:00 UTC

  China allows unloading of Argentine soybean oil

  

  An Argentina-China agreement to unlock the soybean oil conflict seems to move forward as a government official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told a news agency that China has agreed to allow all cargo ships on their way to China to unload soybean oil at Chinese ports.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 23:57 UTC

  US federal judge rules in favour of Argentine sovereign bonds “holdouts”

  

  A United States federal judge ruled in favour of seizing 105 million US dollars from the Argentine Central Bank deposits in New York in order to pay the debt the country holds with two investment funds.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 23:40 UTC

  Bernanke warns US economy still faces ailing housing and employment

  

  United States Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned the US economy still faces significant headwinds, including a housing sector that has yet to recover convincingly and an ailing employment market.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 22:44 UTC

  Venezuela and Argentina have riskiest sovereign credit, says default-swap monitor

  

  Venezuela is catalogued to be the world's riskiest sovereign credit, followed by Argentina, in the table of countries whose debt is the costliest to insure, credit default swap monitor CDS DataVision said this week.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 22:29 UTC

  Milk prices soar 21%, highest in two years pushed by Australasian squeeze

  

  Fonterra, the world's biggest dairy exporter, has said that a seasonal squeeze on Australasian milk supplies is behind a 21% jump in prices to their highest in nearly two years.