Economy

• Friday, January 22nd 2010 - 04:54 UTC

  East Asia and Pacific region growth rate forecasted to double Latinamerica’s

  

  According to the World Bank Global Economic Prospects 2010, regional outlook, the East Asia and Pacific region led the rebound in the global economy last year, reflecting robust fiscal policy steps and strong domestic demand.

• Thursday, January 21st 2010 - 12:23 UTC

  Uruguay had a record tourism industry year in 2009

  

  Uruguay had a very good tourist year in 2009 when the number of visitors climbed to 2.1 million and income reached 1.5 billion US dollars which is considered a record, according to Tourism Minister Hector Lescano.

• Thursday, January 21st 2010 - 12:17 UTC

  According to Argentina’s two tier statistics system unemployment fell to 8.4%

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced Wednesday the unemployment rate had fallen from 9.1% to 8.4% in the last quarter of 2009.

• Thursday, January 21st 2010 - 06:53 UTC

  China freezes liquidity and sends global markets tumbling

  

  Global shares have fallen amid concerns that China's plans to reduce lending by its banks will hurt the worldwide economy. The falls came after Chinese state media said authorities had ordered commercial banks to stop lending for the rest of January.

• Thursday, January 21st 2010 - 06:51 UTC

  “The best place to mine in South America (Chile) just got better”

  

  International mining groups this week were effusive in their support of Chile’s newly elected president Sebastian Piñera, a billionaire businessman with substantial holdings in Lan Airline, Chilevision (a TV station) and Colo Colo (a popular soccer team).

• Wednesday, January 20th 2010 - 12:51 UTC

  Argentine depositors look for security and discretion in Uruguay’s banks

  

  Argentines disenchanted with their current government are taking their savings to refuge in neighbouring Uruguay where deposits of non residents have soared 20% during 2009, according to primary estimates from the Central Bank.

• Wednesday, January 20th 2010 - 09:06 UTC

  Argentine president travels to China to boost trade and cooperation

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will visit China next week as the country is in the middle of a controversy with Congress over a debt repayment plan which would appeal to Central bank resources but has been frozen by the courts.

• Wednesday, January 20th 2010 - 09:03 UTC

  The process to keep Japan’s flag carrier alive has began, says minister

  

  Japan Airlines is to slash about 15,700 jobs and receive an 8 billion USD lifeline as part of turnaround efforts after filing for bankruptcy protection. The collapse of JAL, Asia’s top carrier was widely expected after it struggled with the aviation downturn and a debt burden of more than 25 billion USD.

• Wednesday, January 20th 2010 - 08:55 UTC

  Chile and China make huge investments to increase copper production

  

  Chile’s state-owned mining company, Codelco, last week announced a 1.9 billion US dollars project to develop a subterranean mine at its Chuquicamata opencast mine facility in Chile’s northern Atacama region (region III).

• Wednesday, January 20th 2010 - 07:04 UTC

  UK December inflation jumps to 2.9%, biggest rise in a single month

  

  Inflation in the United Kingdom jumped at a record rate in December, official figures have shown. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) hit 2.9% last month - much higher than expected by the City - compared with just 1.9% in November.