Brazil’s GDP should expand 4% in 2010 but the performance of the economy in the first quarters of 2009 will be dismal, in the range of zero growth or even below, said economist Delfim Netto.
The United Kingdom announced that the national minimum wage is to increase by 7p to £5.80 an hour. The new adult rate for workers aged 22 and over will come into effect in October.
Nobel Economics laureate Edgard Prescott and Joseph Stiglitz warned Monday of a “lost decade” and a worsening of the global financial crisis in the short term during a forum in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The “lost decade” reference is to the stagnation of the economy as happened with Japan during the nineties.
The global economy has stopped its steep slide and is on the verge of making the long, slow climb back toward stability, said European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet who chaired on Monday a meeting of the world's leading central bankers.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI latest data on global arms transfers published this week reveal that Russia remains the second largest arms exporter in the world, accounting for a quarter of global exports of major conventional arms.
US auto maker General Motors' top executive said Monday that it's more likely the company will file for US bankruptcy than meet a June 1 government deadline to restructure.
Bad debts at part-nationalised UK Royal Bank of Scotland could soar to almost £12 billion this year, the bank has said. RBS, which is 70.3% owned by the British taxpayer, posted loans losses of £2.9 billion for the first quarter of 2009, but directors said full-year bad debts could be at least four times as high.
Chilean state-owned mining company CODELCO announced last week its discovery of a new mine site near its existing División Andina site (Region V), some 80 kilometres north of Santiago.
Peru’s main private business confederation believes the current economic crisis “has reached the bottom” in the country and forecasts the economy will experience an annual expansion of 3.5%.
US bank Wells Fargo has said it plans to raise 7.5 billion US dollars from selling new shares, a day after the US Treasury said 10 banks needed to boost reserves. Morgan Stanley is also hoping to raise 3.5 billion from share sales. Bank of America said it planned to sell assets and raise capital to secure the 33.9 billion it needs.