Economy

• Friday, April 24th 2009 - 05:09 UTC

  Ecuador firm on its sovereign bonds sharp discount buy-back scheme

  

  Ecuador will not change its offer to buy back 3.2 billion of defaulted debt at a sharp discount (70%), and appealed to investors to be mindful of its economic problems, Finance Minister Elsa Viteri said in a letter to bondholders, according to press reports from Quito.

• Friday, April 24th 2009 - 04:00 UTC

  Mercosur is going through “one of its worst moments”

  

  Mercosur is going through “one of its worst moments” and has several “pending critical issues” such as “free circulation of goods and people and mitigating asymmetries” said Walter Cancela head of Uruguay’s Economic Affairs, Integration and Mercosur Office.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 13:39 UTC

  IMF more upbeat about Chilean economy than the locals

  

  Chile's GDP will likely grow a marginal 0.1% on the year in 2009, recovering to a 3% in 2010, said the International Monetary Fund in its April World Economic Outlook released Wednesday. The IMF outlook is more optimistic than local analysts' outlook who forecast the Chilean economy will contract 0.5% this year.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 13:33 UTC

  Coming battle to reform IMF and World Bank decision making process

  

  This week-end, ministers of finance and central bankers will meet with officials of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington to address the reform of the two global financial institutions, which were created by the United States and its allies to fund and guide economic development after World War II.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 13:27 UTC

  Slower Brazilian economy cuts current account deficit by half

  

  Brazil’s current account deficit dropped by half in the first quarter compared to a year ago as businesses cut imports and sent less money to parent companies abroad amid slower economic growth. According to the latest release from the Central Bank the deficit narrowed to 5 billion US dollars in the first quarter of the year compared to 10.3 billion in the same period in 2008.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 13:15 UTC

  Development banks pledge 90 billion USD for Latinamerica

  

  Leading multilateral development banks announced Wednesday they will increase their support to Latin America and the Caribbean by providing as much as 90 billion US dollars during the next two years in a joint effort to spur economic growth in the region by coordinating their crisis response initiatives.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 13:04 UTC

  IMF economic outlook influenced by Wall Street, claims World Bank

  

  The World Bank believes that the IMF growth prospects for Latinamerica are “too pessimistic” and anticipates the region will suffer a milder contraction 0.6%, compared to the 1.5% forecasted by the April World Economic Outlook which IMF released Wednesday.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 10:32 UTC

  Japan’s first annual trade deficit in 28 years

  

  Japan has reported its first annual trade deficit in 28 years, with exports in the year to March down 16% from the previous year. Total exports in February and March were half of what they had been a year earlier, the finance ministry said.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 05:19 UTC

  Uruguay beats global expectations and is set to grow 1.3% this year

  

  The International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook estimates that the Uruguayan economy will expand 1.3% this year and 2% in 2010, following an almost record breaking 8.9% in the fourth quarter of 2008.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 05:17 UTC

  IMF forecasts Argentina to contract 1.5% in 2009 and expand 0.7% in 2010

  

  Argentina’s economy is forecasted to contract 1.5% in 2009 and will resume growth in 2010 but at a very modest 0.7%, according to the International Monetary Fund’s April World Economic Outlook (WEO).