Economy

• Wednesday, July 8th 2009 - 07:21 UTC

  Tokyo, Osaka, Moscow, Geneva, Hong Kong, most costly cities

  

  London no longer stands among the most expensive cities in the world to live in, as the fall in value of sterling and declining house prices have made life less expensive in the UK capital according to Mercer consultancy.

• Tuesday, July 7th 2009 - 10:13 UTC

  Uruguay’s June inflation 1.4% and 6.48% in last twelve months

  

  Uruguay’s consumer price inflation rose 1.4% in June, the highest in the last twelve months, but was the lowest 2.82% for the first half of the year since 2005, according to the latest release from the country’s Statistics Office.

• Tuesday, July 7th 2009 - 09:46 UTC

  First test for China’s Yuan as trade currency

  

  China has begun a trial scheme that allows trade with its neighbours to be settled with its own currency the Yuan. Six Shanghai companies have signed contracts with counterparts in Hong Kong and Indonesia to settle deals in the currency.

• Tuesday, July 7th 2009 - 07:00 UTC

  Stiglitz calls for an open debate on the global financial reform

  

  The debate on the restructuring of the world economy can’t be limited to a “closed club”, be it the G8 or the G20, and the United Nations must play a “vital role” in those discussions said Economy Nobel Prize Joseph Stiglitz in a column published Monday in the French newspaper Les Echos.

• Monday, July 6th 2009 - 09:31 UTC

  UK to announce sweeping banking reform this week

  

  The United Kingdom Chancellor Alistair Darling has hit out at “kamikaze” bankers for damaging the British economy and said a shake-up to be unveiled this week would prevent a repeat.

• Monday, July 6th 2009 - 09:22 UTC

  Venezuela takes over Banco Santander and pays first instalment

  

  Venezuela has taken formal control of its third largest bank, the previously Spanish-owned Banco de Venezuela. The first instalment of a 630 million US dollars price tag was made amid much ceremony in the capital Caracas, with nearly all the shares passing to the government.

• Saturday, July 4th 2009 - 13:58 UTC

  US regulators close seven banks; 52 so far in 2009

  

  United States bank regulators closed seven institutions this week including six banks in Illinois controlled by one family and a small bank in Dallas, bringing the total number of US bank failures to 52 so far this year. (This compares with 25 in 2008 and 3 in 2007).

• Saturday, July 4th 2009 - 09:17 UTC

  Brazil threatens to take Argentina to WTO on import licences

  

  Brazil may file a complaint at the World Trade Organization against Argentina because of its delays in issuing import licenses for Brazilian goods according to Foreign Trade Chamber Secretary Lyntha Spindola.

• Friday, July 3rd 2009 - 13:43 UTC

  World Bank praises Latinamerican fiscal and social policies

  

  World Bank group president Robert B. Zoellick underlined that Latinamerican largest countries are better prepared to face the world crisis, based on strong budgets and primary surpluses and the development of effective social policies.

• Friday, July 3rd 2009 - 06:57 UTC

  US jobless rate in June 9.5%; 14.7 million unemployed

  

  The number of jobs lost in the US last month came in at 467,000, which was much more than had been expected. The jobless rate rose to 9.5% in June, from 9.4% in May, as the US economy continued to struggle.