Economy

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 19:03 UTC

  Immediate infrastructure reconstruction cost for Chile, 1.2 billion USD

  

  Chilean Public Works Minister Sergio Bitar estimated that the reconstruction and reparation of sidewalks, airports, canals, and other infrastructure works will cost around 1.2 billion US dollars, after the earthquake that devastated the nation. The quake was an 8.8 on the Richter scale.

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 18:59 UTC

  “European Monetary Fund” to cope with Greece type crises

  

  The European Union is considering creating a rescue fund that could anticipate fundamental changes in the 27-country bloc and bring closer economic cooperation following Greece's debt crisis.

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 18:50 UTC

  Sir Edward Elgar £ 20 notes out of circulation from June 30

  

  The Bank of England has announced that the £20 banknotes depicting composer Sir Edward Elgar are to be removed from circulation from 30 June. The Elgar notes are presently being used alongside the new Adam Smith £20 note, and will remain legal tender up to and including 30 June.

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 18:43 UTC

  US advertising on digital media higher than on print in 2010

  

  United States advertisers are spending more this year on digital media than on print according to the latest study by Outsell. Long predicted, the Madison Avenue milestone has finally arrived thanks to a 9.6% boom in digital advertising in 2010.

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 07:32 UTC

  Brazil/US WTO cotton retaliatory dispute takes off

  

  Brazil announced Monday it would levy a total of 591 million US dollars in retaliatory tariffs on US goods under a ruling against US cotton subsidies granted by a World Trade Organization last year. However Brazil also sent a conciliatory message.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 09:22 UTC

  Latinamerica forecasted to expand 3% or more, this year

  

  The Latinamerican economy is poised to expand 3% or more in 2010, the year that will signal the beginning of recovery for the region according to the Inter American Development Bank, (IDB), President Luis Alberto Moreno.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 07:48 UTC

  Argentine government tells Congress it will pay debts with reserves

  

  Argentine government officials reiterated over the weekend that despite efforts from the opposition to stop the Government, it would service the public debt with the Central Bank foreign reserves.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 07:44 UTC

  Brazil cutting liquidity but preparing plan to promote exports

  

  Brazil is preparing a package of incentive but this time to promote exports which suffered significantly last year because of the global slowdown, announced Finance minister Guido Mantega in an inteview with Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 07:25 UTC

  Encouraging signals from US job market even when unemployment is 9.7%

  

  Encouraging news from the United States labour market: employers shed fewer jobs than expected in February, cutting 36,000 jobs. This was better than the 50,000 analysts had been expecting.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 07:15 UTC

  Sarkozy promised support for Greece “or else there will be no more Euro”

  

  France will support Greece following its efforts to reduce its deficit and has no intention of seeing the country fall by the wayside because the reason for creating the Euro is at stake, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.