Economy

• Wednesday, April 14th 2010 - 00:30 UTC

  US trade deficit widens as US economy recovers from recession

  

  The US trade deficit widened to 39.7 billion US dollars in February, as import growth continued to outpace exports. The overall trade deficit increased by 2.7 billion from January, the Commerce Department said.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 23:58 UTC

  China will reform exchange rate regime at “its own time and needs”

  

  Chinese President Hu Jintao has resisted pressure from US President Obama to raise the value of the Chinese Yuan. He told Mr Obama that it would “neither balance Sino-US trade nor solve the US unemployment problem”, Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 23:55 UTC

  Chinese company buys further into Canada’s oil-sands

  

  China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, Sinopec more than doubled China's presence in Canada’s oil-sands by paying 4.65 billion US dollars for US for ConocoPhillips' 9% stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 23:52 UTC

  Rebound in exports helps to narrow UK trade deficit in February

  

  A rebound in exports helped to narrow the UK trade deficit in February, official figures have shown. The trade deficit in goods and services shrank to £2.1bn, down from a £3.9bn deficit in January.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 23:48 UTC

  High liquidity and capital flows impact on non crisis countries admits IMF

  

  The unprecedented liquidity created by countries to fight the economic crisis could create problems for policymakers in some advanced and emerging market economies with relatively strong growth prospects and higher interest rates, the International Monetary Fund said in a new report.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 23:46 UTC

  Argentine minister denies soybean oil exports to China “have been interrupted”

  

  Argentine Agriculture Minister Julián Domínguez said Tuesday that soybean oil exports to China “have not been interrupted” and assured that supplying companies “have promised to readapt themselves to the Asian country's demands”.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 02:41 UTC

  IMF boosts new emergency lending facility ten fold to 550 billion USD

  

  The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Monday a ten-fold expansion of the Fund’s New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and the transformation of the Fund’s premier standing credit arrangement into a more flexible and effective tool of crisis management.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 01:02 UTC

  USDA predicts largest global glut of wheat since 2002

  

  The world will have so much wheat this year that the US farmers could leave every acre unplanted and still have a surplus, a sign of more losses after futures had their worst first quarter in 15 years.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 01:01 UTC

  Brazil’s success with second season crop behind record production of corn

  

  Increased success in second crops is behind the continued strength in Brazil's corn production despite a decline in plantings, the US Department of Agriculture has said.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 00:19 UTC

  Brazilian authorities begin evacuation of shantytown ahead of planned demolitions

  

  Brazilian authorities evacuated thousands of shantytown residents Sunday so their houses could be demolished after heavy rains that killed at least 224 people last week threatened further landslides.