Economy

• Tuesday, July 28th 2009 - 14:44 UTC

  China displaces the US as main trading partner of Chile

  

  China overtook the United States as the principal consumer of Chilean goods in the first half of 2009, reaching its highest percentage share of Chilean exports yet. China’s continued appetite for Chilean copper, among other commodities, has helped cushion Chile’s overall drop off in exports.

• Tuesday, July 28th 2009 - 14:39 UTC

  US/China ever more competitors but also inter-dependent

  

  The relationship between United States and China will shape the 21st Century, said President Barack Obama as top officials met Monday in Washington for talks. “Co-operation, not confrontation” was the way forward, he said, with climate change, security and the economy all areas where common ground existed.

• Tuesday, July 28th 2009 - 14:35 UTC

  British Chancellor warns banks about interest rates

  

  Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has told bank chiefs that businesses should be given the lowest possible interest rates on borrowing.

• Tuesday, July 28th 2009 - 07:10 UTC

  Traffic in Panama Canal slowing down, reports administration

  

  The number of vessels passing through the Panama Canal declined by 6.4% during the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2009, according to the waterway’s administration latest report.

• Saturday, July 25th 2009 - 11:53 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil will address “trade differences” in Sao Paulo

  

  Argentina and Brazil agreed to hold talks next week to address the ongoing trade differences which threaten to sour the bilateral relation. The meeting of Presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Lula da Silva was held on the sidelines of the Friday Mercosur summit in Paraguay.

• Saturday, July 25th 2009 - 10:42 UTC

  Argentina/Brazil postpone local currencies swap to promote bilateral trade

  

  Argentina and Brazil postponed the signing of a 1.8 billion US dollars swap agreement that was supposed to promote bilateral trade amid the global financial crisis. Reasons for the delay were not revealed but the event was rescheduled for August 3.

• Saturday, July 25th 2009 - 09:27 UTC

  Third of Europeans “very concerned” with potential loss of jobs

  

  A third of European workers are “very concerned” that they could lose their jobs as result of the financial crisis, an EU survey suggests. EU said six in 10 Europeans felt the worst of the economic crisis was to come, and only 28% said it had passed.

• Saturday, July 25th 2009 - 07:19 UTC

  UK fifth successive quarter of recession in April-June

  

  Hopes of a swift end to the United Kingdom recession were shaken after figures showed a far worse than expected decline of 0.8% in the economy between April and June. The UK's fifth successive quarter of recession was much deeper than the 0.3% forecast, stunning experts and business leaders.

• Friday, July 24th 2009 - 14:30 UTC

  Mercosur will end 2009 with positive economic activity, say ministers

  

  Mercosur will conclude this year with positive rates of economic activity in spite of the global crisis, although some members such as Paraguay might not be able to contain the downfall and will end in red numbers.

• Thursday, July 23rd 2009 - 14:44 UTC

  Record fine on world largest brewer: 176 million USD

  

  Brazil's antitrust regulator imposed a record fine of 352 million Reais (approximately 176 million US dollars) Wednesday on beverage giant AmBev. The Cade regulator found that AmBev, brewer of Skol, Brahma and Antarctica beers, used discounts, premiums and exclusivity agreements to dissuade retailers from selling competing brands.