British Primer Minister Gordon Brown has warned there will be no early end to the international fiscal stimulus package agreed by world leaders to drag the global economy out of recession.
United States President Barack Obama said he would push world leaders this week for a reshaping of the global economy in response to the deepest financial crisis in decades. Meantime in Europe, officials kept up pressure for a deal to curb bankers' pay and bonuses at a two-day summit of leaders from the Group of 20 countries, which begins on Thursday.
Argentina’s Economy minister Amado Boudou meets this week with its French peer Christine Lagarde for the resumption of negotiations with the Club of Paris. The meeting will take place previous to the G-20 presidential summit in Pittsburgh.
Football legend Diego Maradona had his earrings seized by Italian authorities to help pay off his back taxes, according to media reports. The current coach of Argentina's national team was staying at a clinic in northern Italy in a bid to lose weight when finance police swooped, according to Reuters and later confirmed by the Argentine press.
Venezuelans are expecting this week further details of President Hugo Chávez anticipated package of new economic measures intended to increase the supply of US dollars and reactivate the local economy.
President Lula da Silva predicts that Brazil in the near future will be in the short list of the world’s largest economies, probable in third or fourth position, and if “less lucky” at the most ranked fifth.
European Union leaders have agreed to seek a global deal for bankers' bonuses to be clawed back if profits fall. The leaders meeting in Brussels approved the clause as part of a common EU position for next week's G20 summit in Pittsburgh in the US.
United States credit rating agencies will face tighter supervision under new rules adopted by the US financial watchdog.
Argentina's August trade surplus dropped 48% from the same month a year ago to 1.16 billion US dollars as exports sank, the government said on Friday. Imports fell by 37% during the month to 3.25 billion, while exports dropped by an even bigger 40% to 4.40 billion USD due to lower prices and reduced volumes, particularly by the drought-hit farming industry.
Brazilian blue-chip shares closed on Friday at a 14-month high as global investors continue to flock to the country. The benchmark Ibovespa stocks index closed 0.8% higher at 60,703 points, up from Thursday's close at 60,236 points and breaking through the psychologically important 60,500-point mark.