Brazil will boost interest rates to as high as 13% next year as policy makers become more “aggressive” to ensure the global economic recovery doesn’t fuel faster inflation, according to Bradesco Asset Management
Uruguay’s inflation in 2009 was on target, 5.9%, but nevertheless it was the highest in Latinamerica behind Venezuela, Jamaica and Argentina, according to data from Uruguay’s central bank. Overall the global slowdown impacted on the region with lower inflation rates.
Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Wednesday again attacked the opposition and called for “reflection” from all those sectors involved in the dispute over Central Bank reserves to avoid repeating the “errors of the past”.
The UK economy grew in the fourth quarter of 2009 for the first time since the summer of 2008, according to forecasts published Wednesday.
Argentina’s central bank reserves dispute suffered an expected escalation when on Tuesday Judge Thomas Griesa from New York State placed an embargo on Argentine central bank accounts held in the United States, following a lawsuit filed by investment funds (or “vulture funds”).
Venezuelan government inspectors backed by soldiers have shut more than 70 shops in Caracas and other cities accused of trying to cash in on last week's currency devaluation. Soldiers have been on the streets to check prices as people queue to buy imports, fearing prices could rise.
The United States trade deficit shot up nearly 10% to 36.4 billion US dollars in November, hitting a 10-month high, the Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Demand for imports is growing, as the US economy slowly gets back on its feet.
China announced that banks will have to hold more cash in reserves to help cool the world’s fastest-growing major economy as a credit boom threatens to stoke inflation and create asset bubbles.
China's exports rose 17.7% in December, state media have reported, suggesting the country has overtaken Germany as the world's largest exporter. The rise, compared to a year earlier, breaks a 13-month decline in trade as a result of the global downturn.
Chile signs up as the 31st member of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and its first member in South America on January 11. For Chile, this marks recognition of nearly two decades of democratic reform and sound economic policies. For the OECD, it is a major milestone in its mission to build a stronger, cleaner and fairer global economy.