Economy

• Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 03:41 UTC

  Spain prepares to announce radical reforms while “economy begins recovery”

  

  Spanish president Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said Monday that the country’s “economic recovery” has started and all indicates that the rhythm will accelerate.

• Monday, November 23rd 2009 - 11:03 UTC

  Tough guidelines to protect quality and origin of Scotch whisky

  

  New guidelines to protect whisky from foreign imitation, including new rules on labelling and bottling, are coming into force in Scotland on Monday. There will be a new requirement to only bottle Single Malts in Scotland, and tighter rules on the use of distillery names on bottle labels.

• Saturday, November 21st 2009 - 05:50 UTC

  Latinamerican poor to reach 189 million (9 million more) because of recession

  

  The current global crisis will cause the number of poor people in Latin America to rise by nine million to 189 million this year, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) said in a report presented in Santiago de Chile.

• Friday, November 20th 2009 - 11:55 UTC

  “Lack of political stability” weighs on Argentina’s credit ratings

  

  Contentious politics and a lack of political stability are the main factors weighing on the outlook for Argentina's credit ratings, Moody's Investors Services said on Thursday.

• Friday, November 20th 2009 - 11:52 UTC

  US banks “too big to fail” could be dismantled under new legislation

  

  A key US House of Representatives committee has voted to give the government the power to take apart banks that are “too big to fail”. The bill would give a proposed new council of regulators the right to dismantle firms whose scale could hurt the economy - even if they are healthy.

• Friday, November 20th 2009 - 11:49 UTC

  US construction industry and housing market remain stagnant

  

  Construction of new homes in the United States fell sharply last month, showing potential weakness in the economy's recovery, while consumer prices rose slightly more than expected.

• Friday, November 20th 2009 - 09:55 UTC

  Brazil, Peru and Uruguay in “boom phase recovery”

  

  The Economic Climate Index (ECI) in Latin America, (developed in partnership between the German Ifo Institute and Brazil’s Getulio Vargas Foundation) rose to 5.2 from 4.0 points between July and October 2009, exceeding for the first time since January 2008, the average of the last ten years (5.1 points).

• Friday, November 20th 2009 - 02:33 UTC

  Cuban greetings for 2010: tighten your belts, it’s bad and it’s getting worse

  

  Cuba is going through one of its cyclical “hard moments” but this time the lack of foreign currency is forcing draconian cuts in food subsidies, public utilities and other services taken for granted. The media repeatedly calls on the population to “tighten belts” because in 2010 restrictions are “for worse”.

• Friday, November 20th 2009 - 02:17 UTC

  Brazil, Mexico and Chile out of recession beginning 2010, says OECD

  

  The Brazilian economy will experience a robust growth in 2010 and 2011, in the range of 4.5%, while Mexico will recover from deep recession beginning next year with a GDP expansion of 2.7% and 3.9% in 2011, according to the Organization for Economic and Development Cooperation, OECD.

• Friday, November 20th 2009 - 02:11 UTC

  OECD warns UK jobless could reach 9.5% by 2011

  

  United Kingdom’s jobless rate could soar to 9.5% in two years' time, even after the economy begins to recover, a leading economic body has warned.