Economy

• Tuesday, April 7th 2009 - 07:00 UTC

  Ford slashes debt and dashes ahead in US auto industry restructure

  

  Ford Motor Co said on Monday it has slashed automotive debt by 38%, 9.9 billion US dollars, bolstering its finances amid a deep auto industry downturn. Markets reacted with Ford shares up over 15%.

• Monday, April 6th 2009 - 10:38 UTC

  Latam positive about G20 results, but implementation is also vital

  

  The G-20 summit decision to inject 1.1 trillion US dollars to the global economy to prop trade and overcome the financial collapse can be beneficial for Latinamerica but measures have to be implemented and proven efficient, according to experts from the region.

• Monday, April 6th 2009 - 10:32 UTC

  Mexico sets up 150 billion US dollars barrier to end market volatility

  

  Mexico asked the International Monetary Fund for a 47 billion US dollars credit line which is to be added to the 30 billion swap line with the Federal Reserve to help shore up the economy and end market volatility.

• Monday, April 6th 2009 - 10:30 UTC

  Best March performance in 15 years for Latam financial markets

  

  Latin American financial markets recorded their best monthly performance during March in more than 15 years, as signs of stabilization in the global financial system encouraged investors to take on risk.

• Monday, April 6th 2009 - 10:23 UTC

  HSBC shareholders support bank with 17.7 billion US dollars

  

  Britain’s HSBC bank shareholders have bought 96.6% of the new shares they were offered. Unlike many of its rivals, HSBC has not received government support, but it still needed some extra funding as a result of the credit crunch.

• Monday, April 6th 2009 - 09:41 UTC

  Tokyo’s plan to ship back 400.000 “nikkeis” to South American

  

  The Japanese government is planning to combat unemployment by sending back to their countries of origin 400.000 South American immigrants of Japanese stock. The idea is to pay them a small subsidy and a one way ticket to South America, an initiative that has generated some controversy in the Japanese press.

• Monday, April 6th 2009 - 09:00 UTC

  Brazil prepared to support IMF with 10 billion USD

  

  Brazil is prepared to support the International Monetary Fund, IMF, with ten billion US dollars, --5% of its international reserves--, with the purpose of boosting its position in the multilateral financial organizations, --votes and veto power--, in the framework of what was decided last week at the G20 summit in London.

• Monday, April 6th 2009 - 08:30 UTC

  Recession “worse than predicted” admits UK Chancellor Darling

  

  British Chancellor Alistair Darling admitted that he failed to foresee the severity of the recession and warned recovery was unlikely before the end of the year. He also warned that the deal struck by PM Gordon Brown and other world leaders at London's G20 summit last week would only be effective if countries stuck to their promises.

• Sunday, April 5th 2009 - 06:29 UTC

  Gibraltar converting from off-shore haven to regulated on shore finance centre

  

  The Gibraltar Government hopes to sign at least 12 tax agreements with countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] by November this year. Completing that number of information exchange agreements would allow Gibraltar to enter the top category of countries regarded by the OECD as those which substantially meet international tax standards, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Saturday, April 4th 2009 - 11:04 UTC

  Uruguay’s March inflation, 0.77% and 1.29% in first quarter

  

  Uruguay’s consumer inflation climbed 0.77% in March according to the release from the country’s Statistics Office. In the first quarter of 2009, retail prices have risen 1.29% and 7.53% in the last twelve months.