Economy

• Saturday, May 30th 2009 - 16:02 UTC

  Chilean economic crisis freezes construction of 100 buildings

  

  New apartment building construction in Santiago de Chile is down by 14.6% since October 2008, according to the latest figures from real estate agency Collect GFK.
  Last fall there were 560 housing projects underway, but as of April that number is down to 461, including 166 projects on hold.

• Saturday, May 30th 2009 - 15:56 UTC

  Construction in Argentina falls 3% in April and 2.7% in four months

  

  Construction in Argentina fell 3% in April year-on-year, accumulating a 2.7% decline since the start of the year, the INDEC statistics' bureau reported. Nevertheless, construction activity grew 3.6% from the previous month, according to the agency, which was partly explained by seasonal effects.

• Saturday, May 30th 2009 - 15:35 UTC

  Mixed signals from the US economy: decline softening

  

  The US economy shrank at an annual pace of 5.7% in the first quarter, a less severe drop than initially reported but still the second-biggest quarterly decline in 27 years, according to the US Commerce Department.

• Saturday, May 30th 2009 - 15:29 UTC

  Euro zone with zero inflation and growing fears of deflation

  

  The Euro zone annual inflation rate in the 16-country region fell to 0% in May from April’s 0.6%, according to Euro-stat. Economists said inflation would turn negative in June, --deflation—further complicating the task of the European Central Bank as it attempts to combat the worst economic downturn for half a century.

• Saturday, May 30th 2009 - 15:22 UTC

  Brazil’s Real at it highest in 8 months; Bovespa up 40% so far this year

  

  The Brazilian currency reached its highest level in eight months on Friday as signs that the world economy is bouncing back and there’s a return of capital inflows to emerging markets. Similarly the Bovespa market index rose 12% in May totaling 40% since the beginning of the year.

• Thursday, May 28th 2009 - 08:46 UTC

  Two possible scenarios for Uruguay’s recovery: 2010 and 2013

  

  The Uruguayan economy has two possible scenarios for recovery from the impact of the current world slowdown, in 2010 and in 2013, according to a local economics and social think tank, Ceres and its leading economist Ernesto Talvi.

• Wednesday, May 27th 2009 - 06:23 UTC

  Brazilian Central Bank not surprised by steady gain of the Real

  

  Brazilian Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles said Tuesday that there are signs that the economy is recovering although he offered no specifics. Brazil’s economy expanded 5.1% in 2008 but government forecasts have been downgraded to 1% for 2009, and private estimates are even more pessimistic

• Tuesday, May 26th 2009 - 12:54 UTC

  Latinamerica foreign trade forecasted to contract 9 to 11% in 2009

  

  The main impact for Latinamerica of the global financial crisis and economic slowdown has been the contraction of trade, so far in the range of 9 to 11%, revealed Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, Cepal.

• Tuesday, May 26th 2009 - 12:35 UTC

  Cuba is desperate to promote agriculture.

  

  Measures to promote the “attachment to farms” and discourage the exodus of peasants to the cities thus helping Cuba achieve self sufficiency in food production, was demanded in Sunday’s edition of the official newspaper from the Union of Communist Youths, Juventud Rebelde.

• Monday, May 25th 2009 - 17:50 UTC

  World Bank warns about unemployment and social upheaval

  

  The head of the World Bank has warned that the global economic crisis could lead to serious social upheaval. “If we do no take measures, there is a risk of a serious human and social crisis with very serious political implications,” Robert Zoellick said.