Economy

• Saturday, February 6th 2010 - 01:58 UTC

  Falklands say oil development is to ensure sustainable economic future

  

  The Falkland Islands government said that hydrocarbons exploration is an important element to achieve a sustainable economic future for the Islands and quoted from British PM Gordon Brown New Year message when he said that there are “no doubts about UK sovereignty over the Falklands ” and the principle of self determination.

• Saturday, February 6th 2010 - 01:54 UTC

  Recession plunges record number of people into insolvency in 2009

  

  Britain's longest- and deepest-ever recession plunged a record number of people into insolvency last year, new figures show. A total of 134,142 people went bankrupt or took out an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or Debt Relief Order during the year, according to the Insolvency Service.

• Saturday, February 6th 2010 - 01:45 UTC

  Spain’s economy contacted 3.6% in 2009, the most in decades

  

  First the bad news: Spain's economy contracted by 3.6% in 2009, the most in decades, as domestic demand plummeted according to a Bank of Spain estimate that was in line with government forecasts.

• Friday, February 5th 2010 - 03:19 UTC

  IMF says monetary policy needs of “independent central banks”

  

  The International Monetary Fund, IMF, made a public veiled reference to Argentina’s Central bank institutional crisis underlining the importance of having independent central banks for monetary policy all over the world.

• Friday, February 5th 2010 - 02:57 UTC

  Brazil’s dilemma: how to contain growth (inflation) in an electoral year

  

  Brazil's Central Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Copom, expressed concern about inflation and advanced it was prepared to respond “promptly” according to the minutes from its meeting last week when it decided to maintain the basic interest rate at 8.75%.

• Friday, February 5th 2010 - 02:39 UTC

  World markets collapse on fears of Euro zone debt problems

  

  Concerns about the US economy and the potential spread of debt problems in the Euro zone (Greece, Portugal and Spain) have led to large falls in world stock markets. US and key European markets lost more than 2% while those in Spain and Portugal fell by more than 5%.

• Thursday, February 4th 2010 - 23:21 UTC

  Trichet forecasts Euro zone recovery at moderate path but with bumps

  

  The euro zone economy will continue to grow at a moderate pace but with bumps on its path to recovery, European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday.

• Thursday, February 4th 2010 - 18:16 UTC

  Uruguay January prices pick up again and reach 0.93%

  

  Prices in Uruguay surprised in January, showing signs of picking up again, driven in large part by higher medical costs, the latest salaries agreements and dearer vegetables according to data published earlier this week.

• Thursday, February 4th 2010 - 17:58 UTC

  Central bank can have operational autonomy but “it is not independent”

  

  Argentina’s newly appointed Central Bank president Mercedes Marcó del Pont, said she “believes in the Central Bank' operational autonomy,” but expressed “it cannot be independent”. She also said they would “work rigorously and continue their policies to bring calm in the currency exchange market.”

• Thursday, February 4th 2010 - 17:36 UTC

  Bank of England leaves rates unchanged but pauses pumping liquidity

  

  The Bank of England decided Thursday against further quantitative easing (QE), the policy designed to stimulate growth in the UK economy. Under QE, the Bank has pumped new money into the economy by buying assets such as government bonds, as a way to boost lending by commercial banks.
  Last week, it revealed it had spent all of the £200 billion put aside for QE.