Economy

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:25 UTC

  Brazil central bankers see margin to further cut interest rates

  

  Brazilian central bank policy makers said the global economic slump may favour the ongoing reduction of interest rates without jeopardizing the inflation target, according to the minutes of the April 28-29 monetary policy meeting posted on the bank’s Web site.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:15 UTC

  An estimated 34 billion US dollars have fled from Argentina

  

  The Argentine Central Bank must ensure that the flight of capital does not erode the “wealth of the country”, warned a former head of the bank, who revealed that since the beginning of the crisis 34 billion US dollars had fled from South America’s second largest economy.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 04:48 UTC

  European central banks lost 40 billion USD with gold sales

  

  The decision by central banks across Europe to sell gold reserves over the last ten years has left them 40 billion US dollars worse-off, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 04:46 UTC

  IMF forecasts “relatively good” performance for Latam economy

  

  Economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), sharply affected by the global economic crisis, is expected to contract by 1.5% in 2009, from about 4.5% growth in 2008, before rebounding next year, according to the latest forecast for the region by the International Monetary Fund.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 04:34 UTC

  Brazilian and Argentine manufacturers reach markets agreement

  

  Brazilian and Argentine manufacturers reach a tentative understanding to privilege the two countries markets and exports which should help overcome the ongoing trade dispute among Mercosur main partners.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 04:22 UTC

  Sterling highly sensitive to quantity easing programs

  

  The British pound fell sharply just after midday Thursday following the announcement from the Bank of England (BoE) that it was expanding its quantitative easing program by a further £50 billion. The move to expand QE from the original £75 billion to £125 billion sent sterling down against a host of currencies including the dollar and the euro.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 04:16 UTC

  Bank of England to pump additional £ 50 billion to the economy

  

  The Bank of England has held interest rates unchanged at their record low of 0.5% but stepped up its program to boost the economy with injections of new money. It is the second month in a row that rate-setters have held the cost of borrowing as attention turns to the results of its scheme of quantitative easing (QE) - effectively printing money - to ease credit conditions in the ailing economy.

• Friday, May 8th 2009 - 04:13 UTC

  ECB follows US, UK, Japan and announces quantitative easing

  

  The European Central Bank is to embark on its own quantitative easing program in response to the sharpest economic slowdown in Europe since the Second World War, it was announced Thursday. The news follows similar measures in the UK, US and Japan over the past few months.

• Thursday, May 7th 2009 - 13:49 UTC

  Ministers meet to advance creation of South American development bank

  

  Economy and Finance ministers from seven South American countries are scheduled to meet Friday in Buenos Aires to advance in the creation of the Bank of the South, a financial institution to fund infrastructure and development projects in the region.

• Thursday, May 7th 2009 - 13:44 UTC

  Sao Paulo, Santiago best cities for business in Latinamerica

  

  Business journal América Economía last week ranked Santiago as the second best city in Latin America for business, just behind Sao Paulo and ahead of Miami, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires.