Economy

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 17:19 UTC

  Fears of inflation and asset bubbles as China expands 11.9% in first quarter

  

  China's economy expanded 11.9% year on year in the first quarter, indicating a solid recovery of the world's third largest economy, but also fanning concerns of asset bubbles, reports Xinhua.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 17:14 UTC

  Petrobras completes global presence by acquiring stake in Australian block

  

  Brazilian government managed energy giant Petrobras announced it acquired a 50% stake in an exploration block in Australia with significant natural gas potential. Petrobras acquired the stake from MEO Australia for 39 million USD.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 17:11 UTC

  Venezuela plans to invest 120 billion USD in developing Orinoco heavy crude

  

  Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said some 120 billion USD will be invested over the next seven years in the Orinoco Belt, which the U.S. Geological Survey says is the largest petroleum accumulation it has ever evaluated.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 17:08 UTC

  Paraguay retains Taiwan diplomatic links and opens trade office with Beijing

  

  Mercosur member Paraguay is reconsidering the terms of its relation with Taiwan, “retaining diplomatic links” but at the same time establishing “formal economic relations with Beijing”, said the country’s Foreign Affairs minister Héctor Lacognata.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 17:07 UTC

  Spain’s high unemployment a threat for financial system, warns top banker

  

  Spain’s high unemployment is the biggest threat facing the country’s banks, the governor of the Spanish central bank said this week. With the jobless rate approaching 19%, Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordoñez said Spanish politicians need to approve labour reform “soon and with the broadest possible consensus”.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 00:36 UTC

  China rapidly becoming Latinamerica’s main trade and investment partner

  

  China is set to become Latinamerica’s second trade partner ahead of the European Union and just behind the United States in the next few years according to a report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, Cepal.

• Wednesday, April 14th 2010 - 20:47 UTC

  EU warns Portugal is in danger zone: must adopt tougher deficit cuts

  

  The European Union said Portugal may need further budget measures this year to meet its deficit- cutting targets, as the pace of economic growth contributes to investor concern about contagion from Greece’s fiscal crisis.

• Wednesday, April 14th 2010 - 03:12 UTC

  “Avatar” director joins battle against huge dam in the Amazon

  

  Canadian filmmaker James Cameron, director of “Avatar,” promised this week to “tell the world” about the opposition of Indians and peasants to the construction in the Brazilian Amazon of the world’s third-largest hydroelectric dam.

• Wednesday, April 14th 2010 - 03:09 UTC

  Cuba calls for an efficient agriculture to cut annual 1.5 billion USD food imports

  

  Cuba continues to spend more than 1.5 billion US dollars a year on food imports, Vice President Jose Ramon Machado said while urging farmers to boost production, Communist Party daily Granma reported Monday.

• Wednesday, April 14th 2010 - 01:26 UTC

  Brazil believes the Chinese currency will appreciate “a bit more” this year

  

  China may let the Yuan gain “a bit more” within 12 months as the world’s third-largest economy moves away from a currency policy that creates distortions, Brazilian central bank President Henrique Meirelles said.