Economy

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 06:34 UTC

  Brazil considering tax breaks and lower import tariffs to fight inflation

  

  Brazil is considering additional anti-inflationary measures such as tax breaks and lower import tariffs but monetary policy remains the main tool to control prices, Finance Ministry officials said on Friday.

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 06:29 UTC

  Argentina’s “next step” is to negotiate 7.5 billion debt with the Paris Club

  

  After unveiling Argentina's debt-swap details Thursday, Economy Minister Amado Boudou said on Friday that the next step is to negotiate the 7.5 billion dollar debt Argentina maintains with the Paris Club.

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 06:23 UTC

  Egypt expects to sign free trade agreement with Mercosur next July

  

  Egypt expects to complete free trade negotiations with the four Mercosur countries -- Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay -- in July, Egypt's trade minister revealed this week in Cairo.

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 06:19 UTC

  Taxpayers will no longer be hostages of banks “too big to fall” promises Obama

  

  US President Barack Obama has proposed significant new curbs on the activities of banks to try to prevent future financial crises. The plans - the most far-reaching yet -include limits to the size of banks and restrictions on riskier trading.

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 03:12 UTC

  Reconstruction efforts will turn Chile from capital exporter to importer, says IIF

  

  Increased external financing requirements to cover reconstruction costs triggered by the earthquake and tsunami of February 27 will shift Chile’s external position from capital exporter in 2009 (largely the result of its dynamic private pension system) to capital importer this year and next, according to the Institute of International Finance, IIF.

• Friday, April 16th 2010 - 23:40 UTC

  US regulator accuses Goldman Sachs of defrauding investors

  

  Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street powerhouse, has been accused of defrauding investors by United States’ financial regulator. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges that Goldman failed to disclose conflicts of interest.

• Friday, April 16th 2010 - 04:17 UTC

  Argentine bonds’ swap could not be sufficient, warn anks

  

  In spite of Argentine authorities optimism regarding the 20 billion USD bonds’ swap launched on Thursday the Institute of International Finance, (IIF), warned that the initiative could be insufficient to re-establish the country’s full access to voluntary money markets.

• Friday, April 16th 2010 - 04:09 UTC

  Argentina launches defaulted bonds swap with a 66.3% discount

  

  Argentina offered new bonds to holders of 20 billion US dollars of sovereign debt left out of an earlier settlement, seeking to end a nine-year default and regain access to international capital markets.

• Friday, April 16th 2010 - 00:10 UTC

  China agrees to invest heavily in Brazilian infrastructure

  

  China and Brazil bolstered their growing ties with trade and investment agreements on Thursday in Brasilia before a summit of the world's top four emerging markets that was cut back after China's leader decided to return home to deal with a major earthquake.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 17:19 UTC

  Fears of inflation and asset bubbles as China expands 11.9% in first quarter

  

  China's economy expanded 11.9% year on year in the first quarter, indicating a solid recovery of the world's third largest economy, but also fanning concerns of asset bubbles, reports Xinhua.