Economy

• Wednesday, August 5th 2009 - 12:39 UTC

  Lula da Silva boasts Brazil now advises the IMF

  

  President Lula da Silva said that Brazil is climbing out, and strengthened, from the deep global financial crisis and underlined that “Brazil is now advising the International Monetary Fund, IMF”.

• Tuesday, August 4th 2009 - 10:44 UTC

  Argentina pays bond and seeks to return to global capital markets

  

  Argentina paid creditors a total of 2.25 billion dollars on government-issued debt Monday, as it sought to shed the last vestiges of its 2001 default and return to the financial mainstream. Economy Minister Amado Boudou said the payment, or coupon, had been made to holders of dollar-denominated Boden 2012 bonds -- meeting a debt obligation that aims to boost confidence.

• Tuesday, August 4th 2009 - 10:34 UTC

  US July Ford, Subaru and Hyundai sales up; GM Chrysler down

  

  United States vehicle sales were mixed in July, with Ford seeing sales rise compared to a year earlier while both Chrysler and GM posted a fall. Asian car manufacturers also saw varied US sales, with Subaru and Hyundai sales up while Honda and Toyota both posted falls year-on-year.

• Tuesday, August 4th 2009 - 09:33 UTC

  Two UK main banks report combined half year profits of £ 6 billion

  

  British banks Barclays and HSBC have shrugged off the near-collapse of the financial system to report combined half-year profits of almost £6 billion. The duo - which both avoided taxpayer support at the height of last autumn's crisis - posted profits of nearly £3 billion each, mainly due to strong investment banking results.

• Tuesday, August 4th 2009 - 09:15 UTC

  Protecting UK bank savers from the credit crisis reached £ 21 billion

  

  The cost of protecting United Kingdom savers during the credit crisis has been revealed by the body set up to compensate victims of banking collapses.

• Monday, August 3rd 2009 - 12:49 UTC

  Unemployment in Germany rose in July and worse to come

  

  Unemployment in Germany rose in July, official figures have shown, and economists have warned that the worst still lies ahead for the job market.

• Sunday, August 2nd 2009 - 11:53 UTC

  Two year capital flight from Argentina reached 43.1 billion USD

  

  Argentina’s flight of capital remains steady having reached 5.5 billion US dollars in the second quarter of the year, 11.2 billion in the first half and 43.1 billion US dollars since the second quarter of 2007, when the first signs of the global crisis, according to the latest data from the Argentine Central Bank.

• Sunday, August 2nd 2009 - 11:46 UTC

  Number of failed banks in the US reached 69 so far this year

  

  United States banks in New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, Oklahoma and Illinois were shut, pushing the toll of failed US lenders to 69 this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was named the receiver of the five banks, the regulator said in e-mailed statements.

• Sunday, August 2nd 2009 - 11:42 UTC

  Cuba faces harder times; Castro willing to talk with US about everything

  

  Cuban President Raul Castro said he remains ready to talk about everything and anything with the United States but that Cuba’s political system was not on the negotiating table.

• Sunday, August 2nd 2009 - 11:40 UTC

  China expected to recover strongly in second half of 2009

  

  China's economy would continue to recover from the world financial crisis in the latter half and expand at the rate of 8.5% for the whole year, said a report from the Bank of Communications on Sunday.