Economy

• Saturday, June 20th 2009 - 16:31 UTC

  Argentina’s trade surplus surges 139% in May but imports plunge 49%

  

  Argentina's May trade surplus soared 139% from a year ago to 2.48 billion US dollars because of a sharp drop in imports as the economy slows, the government said on Friday.

• Saturday, June 20th 2009 - 08:19 UTC

  Dim lights of hope for the British auto industry

  

  Britain’s Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said the US government has given a “positive response” to his case for continued General Motors production in the UK.

• Saturday, June 20th 2009 - 08:15 UTC

  Switzerland struggling not to be listed “likely tax haven”

  

  Switzerland has agreed a new bilateral framework on sharing tax information with the United States, as it continues to ease its once strict banking secrecy. In March, the Swiss government announced that it would start to abide by the current global standards on sharing bank data.

• Friday, June 19th 2009 - 14:07 UTC

  Four million live in poverty in metropolitan Buenos Aires

  

  An estimated four million Argentines live in poverty in metropolitan Buenos Aires of which 1.2 million are described as indigent, which means they don’t have minimum resources to purchase the basic food basket according to a survey from SEL Consultores released this week.

• Thursday, June 18th 2009 - 14:50 UTC

  US unveils major banking shake-up since the 1930s

  

  The US government has announced a major reform of banking regulation to prevent future financial crises. The overhaul will require big banks to put more money aside against future losses to curb excessive risk taking.

• Wednesday, June 17th 2009 - 12:08 UTC

  BRIC leaders call for a “more diversified” currency system

  

  The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China -- the BRIC nations -- called for a “more diversified” currency system and a new global order after holding their first summit amid growing talk over the US dollar future as the global reserve unit.

• Wednesday, June 17th 2009 - 06:53 UTC

  British Airways battling for survival calls on staff to work for nothing

  

  British Airways, which reported a record annual loss last month, said it had asked its staff to work for free as part of the company's battle for “survival” in tough market conditions.

• Wednesday, June 17th 2009 - 05:20 UTC

  After 18 quarters of growth Uruguay technically in recession

  

  Contrary to government forecasts the Uruguayan economy plunged 2.9% in the first quarter of this year putting an end to 18 uninterrupted quarters of sustained growth. Although government officials downplayed the impact of the retraction, private analysts said this signals the beginning of a recession period in line with what is happening globally.

• Wednesday, June 17th 2009 - 05:12 UTC

  BRIC members meet to demand greater voice is world financial affairs

  

  The world's newest economic grouping, BRIC is to hold its first summit in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg beginning Tuesday. BRIC is named after its four member states - emerging giants Brazil, Russia, India and China; they account for 13% of global GDP and 40% of world population.

• Tuesday, June 16th 2009 - 13:16 UTC

  Lula da Silva calls for new world economic order

  

  Brazilian President Lula da Silva urged unions and workers on Monday to take advantage of the global financial crisis to help forge a new world economic order. He also criticized multilateral organizations for having no plans to address the current global crisis.