Economy

• Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 14:12 UTC

  Rio Tinto Alcan planning a 2.5 billion USD aluminium smelter in Paraguay

  

  Rio Tinto Alcan, a unit of global mining giant Rio Tinto said on Monday it could invest up to 2.5 billion US dollars in a potential aluminium smelter in Paraguay. Rio Tinto Alcan said it had begun negotiations on a possible power purchase agreement for the potential smelter.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 14:07 UTC

  S&P lowers Mexico’s foreign currency debt rating to BBB

  

  Mexico’s credit rating was cut one level by Standard & Poor’s after tumbling oil output and the worst recession since the 1930s swelled the budget deficit.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 11:10 UTC

  Argentina announces 6.5 billion USD guarantee fund for 2010 debt payments

  

  Argentina will set aside 6.5 billion US dollars of its foreign currency reserves to ensure the country meets its 2010 debt payments, the government said on Monday. The move is seen as an attempt to lower costs for issuing new debt, ahead of a complicated year.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 10:56 UTC

  Japan extends grant to Uruguay for solar power development

  

  Japan is extending Uruguay a grant of 8.5 million US dollars to finance a solar power project, according to official Japanese sources. Japan’s Foreign Affairs minister Katsuya Okada and his Uruguayan counterpart Pedro Vaz signed the document Monday.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 10:21 UTC

  Employment and industrial production in Euro-zone confirm shrinking tendency

  

  Employment in the Euro-zone shrank during the third quarter and October industrial production also contracted 0.6% on a month-on-month basis, according to the latest release from Eurostat, the European Community Statistics Office.

• Monday, December 14th 2009 - 13:19 UTC

  London could be pushed into third place by Shanghai as financial centre

  

  London could be pushed into third place as a global financial centre by Shanghai in the next decade, according to a report.

• Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 09:21 UTC

  Drastic budget cuts anticipated for UK Ministry of Defence

  

  The British Ministry of Defence is facing hundreds of millions of pounds in cuts - including the closure of at least one RAF base - as it struggles to balance its books, it was reported.

• Friday, December 11th 2009 - 14:14 UTC

  Brazil and Argentina try again to reach an agreement on bilateral trade

  

  Brazil and Argentina are currently discussing the possibility of reducing the number of products subject to the so called non automatic import licences which has been obstructing bilateral trade and causing a rift between Mercosur’s largest partners.

• Friday, December 11th 2009 - 14:04 UTC

  Brazilian GDP growth in thirs quarter is less that expected: 1.3%

  

  The Brazilian economy expanded 1.3% in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the previous quarter according to the official release on Thursday from the country’s statistics office, IBGE.

• Friday, December 11th 2009 - 13:52 UTC

  Argentina clears the way for outstanding debt swap and new bonds issue

  

  In the latest step to finish with outstanding debt problems and return to markets, the Argentine government officially allowed issues of new bonds to be swapped for defaulted government paper.