Economy

• Friday, February 19th 2010 - 21:02 UTC

  Argentine central bank and Economy ministry seal “policies coordination”

  

  Argentina’s Economy Minister Amado Boudou and Central Bank Governor Mercedes Marcó del Pont announced the appointing of the Council of Exchange, Financial, Economical and Monetary Politics.

• Friday, February 19th 2010 - 21:00 UTC

  Obama names bipartisan taskforce to tackle US budget deficit

  

  President Barack Obama has set up a taskforce to tackle the growing US budget deficit.
  The body will report back by the end of the year on what steps need to be taken to get the deficit down to 3% of GDP.

• Friday, February 19th 2010 - 05:20 UTC

  Federal Reserve tightens policy raises discount rate to commercial banks

  

  The United State Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy Thursday for the first time in more than a year, raising by 0.25 percentage points the discount interest rate at which the US central bank lends directly to commercial banks.

• Thursday, February 18th 2010 - 13:48 UTC

  Argentine consumers expect inflation in next 12 months to reach 30%

  

  Argentines expect consumer prices to rise 31.1% over the next 12 months, led by higher forecasts from the lower income category, according to the average estimate in a poll from Torcuato Di Tella University.

• Thursday, February 18th 2010 - 00:02 UTC

  Argentine consumers boycott meat to force lower prices

  

  A consumer group had called on Argentines, world leaders in beef consumption, to boycott the meat for a week in an effort to lower prices, according to news reports from Buenos Aires.

• Wednesday, February 17th 2010 - 23:59 UTC

  Paraguay beef exports in January total 54.8 million US dollars

  

  Chile, Russia, Vietnam and Israel were the main clients for Paraguayan beef and meat products during the month of January totalling 54.8 million US dollars, up 85% over the same month a year ago according to the latest data from the Livestock Health and Quality Service, Senacsa.

• Wednesday, February 17th 2010 - 23:55 UTC

  Greece defends controversial debt-swaps masterminded by Goldman Sachs

  

  Greece has defended a controversial deal that may have masked the extent of its budget woes and has annoyed the European Union. The 2001 debt-swap deal with Goldman Sachs was legal under EU rules, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told the Greek parliament.

• Wednesday, February 17th 2010 - 23:00 UTC

  UK unemployment 7.8%, but jobseekers allowance claimants set a new record

  

  Unemployment in the UK fell at the end of last year but the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance has now reached a record high, new figures show. The number of Britons out of work fell to by 3,000 to 2.46 million in the three months to December, leaving the unemployment rate at 7.8%.

• Wednesday, February 17th 2010 - 22:52 UTC

  Russia’s interests in Latinamerica are “purely commercial”

  

  Russia has increased arms sales to Latin America but Moscow’s interests in the region are “purely commercial” said Russian Foreign Affairs minister Sergei Lavrov following talks with his Mexican counterpart, the last stop of a regional tour that included Cuba, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

• Wednesday, February 17th 2010 - 02:46 UTC

  NZ dairy group in Uruguay reports improved results

  

  NZ Farming Systems Uruguay has reported improved results on the back of better rainfall, growth in its farms, cost cutting and better milk prices.