Economy

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 07:09 UTC

  Scrappage program boosts Ford, Toyota and Honda sales in the US

  

  US car sales responded positively to the government's 3 billion US dollars “Cash for Clunkers” program, led by a 17% sales jump at Ford and higher sales from Japan auto makers Toyota and Honda. However General Motors, Chrysler and Nissan still reported lower sales.

• Tuesday, September 1st 2009 - 12:28 UTC

  Chile launches trucks’ scrappage plan to boost economy and fight pollution

  

  The Chilean government will subsidize the purchase of more fuel-efficient trucks for citizens through a program set to start later this year. The program, called “Cambia tu Camión,” or “Change your Truck,” will offer a bonus of 4, 8 or 12 million pesos (7.200, 14.500 or 21.700 US dollars respectively), toward the purchase of a new, more fuel efficient car, with the trade-in of a truck over 25 years old.

• Tuesday, September 1st 2009 - 12:25 UTC

  Black Monday in China’s impacts on world markets

  

  Chinese equities Monday plunged 6.74% to a three-month low as investors showed concern a slowdown in bank lending would erode economic growth, reported the Xinhua news agency. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 192.94 points to finish at 2,667.75. This was the largest daily drop for the key Shanghai index since June last year.

• Tuesday, September 1st 2009 - 05:47 UTC

  WTO confirms ruling favouring Brazil in cotton dispute with US

  

  United States faces annual trade sanctions of about 295 million US dollars for failing to scrap illegal subsidies paid to its cotton growers. However the punishment, imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO), is far less than the 4 billion USD that Brazil, which brought the case, had wanted.

• Tuesday, September 1st 2009 - 01:32 UTC

  Bank failures in United States jump to 84 in eight months

  

  The number of bank failures in the United States reached 84 in the first four months of this year, following the collapse of three entities in California, Minnesota and Maryland, according to the latest report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FIDC

• Tuesday, September 1st 2009 - 00:25 UTC

  Between 1.600 and 1.700 vessels cross the Magellan Strait annually

  

  An estimated 1.600 to 1.700 vessels cross the strategic Magellan Strait annually according to the Chilean Navy that last week celebrated the 161th anniversary of its patrolling task along the country’s coastline of almost 6.500 kilometres.

• Monday, August 31st 2009 - 07:48 UTC

  Wheat production is Argentina down, and booming in Brazil

  

  Helped by the Argentine administrations of the Kirchner couple, Brazil is catching up with Argentina as Latinamerica’s main producer of wheat. This year Brazil will be planting only 200.000 hectares less than its Mercosur partner which this winter crop is down to 2.75 million hectares.

• Monday, August 31st 2009 - 07:46 UTC

  China surpasses Germany as the world’s largest exporter

  

  China has become the world's largest exporter surpassing Germany, the World Trade Organization has said. China displaced Germany, which held the No.1 slot since 2003, by a slim margin of 100 million US dollars after exporting goods worth 521.7 billion USD in the first half of 2009.

• Sunday, August 30th 2009 - 22:28 UTC

  China's Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean

  

  On November 5, 2008, the Chinese government released a policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, as it had previously done so for Europe in 2003 and for Africa in 2006.

• Saturday, August 29th 2009 - 10:06 UTC

  IMF injects 283 billion SDR to boost world economy

  

  With much of the world still mired in recession, the IMF took action to bolster its members’ reserves through an allocation of SDRs, or Special Drawing Rights. The allocation, equivalent to 250 billion USD was made on August 28 and will be followed by an additional, albeit much smaller, allocation of 33 billion on September 9.