Economy

• Thursday, March 25th 2010 - 03:20 UTC

  Latinamerica, “winning region of the financial crisis”, says optimistic IDB

  

  Latin American countries' banking and financial officials were optimistic Tuesday about their future development, saying most economies in the region were strengthened after the global financial crisis.

• Thursday, March 25th 2010 - 03:18 UTC

  Mercosur-Israel free trade agreement becomes effective

  

  The free trade agreement between Mercosur and Israel, the first out of the region for the South American block, became effective this week for Paraguay. For the rest of Mercosur full members, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay the official date is April first.

• Thursday, March 25th 2010 - 03:05 UTC

  UN report points to “clear inequities” in province, class and gender in Argentina

  

  Argentina is confronting “clear inequities” as reflected by the incidence of “avoidable” maternal deaths during childbirth, the frequency of abortion among poor women and the concentration of new HIV infections in the most marginalized sector of the population, according to a U.N. report presented this week.

• Thursday, March 25th 2010 - 02:47 UTC

  China seals long term energy agreements with Australia and Shell

  

  China National Offshore Oil Corporation, (CNOOC), signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Australia's BG Group to buy millions of tons of gas. Under the deal, which still needs government approval, CNOOC will buy 3.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas a year for the next 20 years.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 22:27 UTC

  Portugal credit rating downgrade sank the Euro and Wall Street

  

  The Euro sank to a 10-month low against the dollar and US stocks fell on Wednesday after a downgrade of Portugal's credit rating raised worries about Europe's growing debt burden.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 05:24 UTC

  Crisis lesson: better to rely on international reserves than IMF credit says Brazil

  

  Brazil’s Central Bank believes it is better for the country to hold its own foreign exchange reserves than to rely on credit lines from international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 05:21 UTC

  Argentina’s default restructure: 9.5% dollar bonds due in 2017

  

  Argentina will offer 9.5% dollar bonds due in 2017 in its plan to restructure 20 billion USD in defaulted debt, Ambito Financiero newspaper reported Tuesday. The bonds will be issued to compensate for past-due interest and the most recent past-due payment on warrants linked to economic growth, the Buenos Aires newspaper said.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 23:02 UTC

  One out of five Spaniards “below the threshold of poverty”

  

  Spain’s economic crisis had devastating effects on the quality of life of the population during 2009. According to a damning survey on living conditions in the country published by the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas) 13.7% of households in Spain had “great difficulty” in making ends meet at the end of each month.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 22:56 UTC

  UK consumer inflation falls to 3% in February

  

  Lower prices of toys and games have contributed to a fall in the UK's headline rate of inflation to 3% - closer to the Bank of England's 2% target. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell to 3% in February from 3.5% in January, new figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 22:10 UTC

  Uruguay on the world’s viticulture map with its distinctive Tannat wines

  

  Argentina has its Malbec; Chile has its Carmenere and now Uruguay, not to be out-classed by its more famous wine-producing neighbours, is taking the world of viticulture by storm, with its distinctive Tannat wines.