Economy

• Tuesday, December 29th 2009 - 07:43 UTC

  Argentina anticipates record crop of “green gold” soybean

  

  Argentina’s “green gold” soybean 2009/2010 crop is forecasted to establish a new record, 50.8 million tons, according to the Chamber of Commerce from Rosario, located at the epicentre of the country’s oil seed production.

• Tuesday, December 29th 2009 - 07:26 UTC

  Uruguayan organic beef at Shanghai’s world expo next year

  

  Uruguayan organic beef directly from the country’s natural pastures will be available at a restaurant catered by Uruguayans at the Shanghai World Expo next year.

• Monday, December 28th 2009 - 12:49 UTC

  Spanish bank forecasts strong recovery of Uruguayan economy in 2010

  

  Spanish bank BBVA anticipates a strong recovery of the Uruguayan economy next year with one of the highest growth rates in the region and discards “any turbulences or surprises with the new government, it’s going to be continuation of current policies”.

• Sunday, December 27th 2009 - 06:23 UTC

  Car sales in Chile indicate the country is on road to recovery

  

  A November report shows a 27.3% spike in new car sales in Chile, making it the largest sales increase the country has seen in two years. The last similar increase of 29.9% was before the recent financial crisis, in January 2008.

• Saturday, December 26th 2009 - 13:30 UTC

  Ecuador begins legal actions against Air Comet; thousands still stranded

  

  The Ecuadorian government filed an appeal against Spain's Air Comet for alleged fraud and requested board directors be put under preventive custody, announced Migration Ministry Alexis Rivas during a press conference in Quito.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:57 UTC

  Venezuela imposes power cuts and announces network of “Socialist” shops

  

  Venezuela has imposed sweeping power cuts on industry and businesses in order to save its limited energy resources and avoid mass blackouts. The government said the cuts were because of falling water levels at the Guri Hydroelectric dam, which supplies much of the country's power.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:49 UTC

  Another austerity year ahead for Cubans announced Raul Castro

  

  The Cuban economy grew by only 1.4% in 2009, far from an initial forecast of 6%, Economy and Planning minister told parliament this week. Marino Murillo said that Cuba’s exports fell by 22.9% this year, while imports were down 37.4%. Prospects for 2010 are modest: 1.7% growth.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:26 UTC

  Minutes show Bank of England unanimous vote on December decisions

  

  All nine members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to hold interest rates at its December meeting. Minutes from the meeting also showed that the MPC was unanimous in voting to maintain the £200bn quantitative easing (QE), or asset buying, programme.

• Wednesday, December 23rd 2009 - 15:44 UTC

  Uruguay cuts basic rate and eases credit to sustain US dollar

  

  Uruguay surprised markets with a 175 basic point rate cut to 6.25% from 8.00% amid expectations of lower inflation. The central bank also decided to reduce the inflation target fluctuation for the next 18 months from 3 to 7%, to 4% and 6%.

• Wednesday, December 23rd 2009 - 15:37 UTC

  Several Argentine economy indicators rebounding

  

  Argentina’s November primary fiscal surplus increased sharply over a year ago, 46.2%, reflecting a better performance of the country’s economy, pointed out Economy minister Amado Boudou confirming what President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had anticipated on Monday.