Economy

• Friday, May 15th 2009 - 11:31 UTC

  Record contraction of the Spanish economy

  

  The Spanish economy slid deeper into recession in the first quarter of this year, official data showed on Thursday revealing that output shrank by 1.8% from the level in the previous quarter. On an annualized basis the contraction was a record 2.9%, the steepest in half a century.

• Friday, May 15th 2009 - 09:15 UTC

  US Treasury moves to regulate complex (lethal) financial instruments

  

  The United States Treasury wants more regulation of derivatives - the complex financial instruments that brought down some of Wall Street's biggest names. Proposals to be set out by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will call for an electronic system to monitor buying and selling in the market.

• Friday, May 15th 2009 - 02:46 UTC

  Inflation guess game in Argentina: anywhere from 0.3% to 1.8%

  

  Argentina's April inflation rate reached 0.3% and 5.7% in the last twelve months according to the latest release from the National Statistics Institute, Indec. The wholesale or production prices for the month was 0.5% and 1.7% since January, while the Construction Cost index rose 0.4% and 1%.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 12:21 UTC

  Brazil plans to tax interests on savings above 50.000 Reales

  

  Brazil plans to begin taxing interest on some savings accounts and may lower taxes on fixed-income funds to maintain demand for government bonds as the Central Bank cuts the benchmark rate.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 12:11 UTC

  Chile’s Central bank slashes growth estimate

  

  Chile's economy could shrink by as much as 0.75 percent this year, its first annual contraction in a decade, as the global crisis hits consumer spending and investment, the Central Bank announced on Wednesday. The bank slashed its 2009 GDP forecast to a range between a 0.75% contraction and a 0.25% expansion.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 09:57 UTC

  The Economist sceptical about the crisis having bottomed out

  

  The end of the economic crisis and the return to the growth path are still distant according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, EIU, which predicts the global economy will contract 1.8% in 2009.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 08:07 UTC

  British MPs handing back money “milked” out of the system

  

  British PM Gordon Brown backed the “extreme but necessary” measure last night as senior Labour figures started following in the footsteps of Tory frontbenchers by handing over money that they were seen to have “milked” out of the system.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 08:03 UTC

  US triple-A credit rating at risk, if finances are not put in order

  

  The United States is at risk of losing its triple-A credit rating unless it starts putting its finances in order, a former head of the agency in charge of fiscal accountability said in the Financial Times on Wednesday.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 07:56 UTC

  Bank of England anticipates slow protracted recovery

  

  The Bank of England says that the UK economic recovery is likely to be slow and protracted. The Bank has cut its growth forecast over the next two years and raised its estimate for inflation since February.

• Wednesday, May 13th 2009 - 15:53 UTC

  Argentina could have to import beef and wheat in 2010

  

  Argentina, once the breadbasket of the world and land of some of the best cattle beef could be forced next year to import wheat and beef to meet domestic demand, according to government and private sector reports.