Economy

• Friday, March 20th 2009 - 06:53 UTC

  US Congress reacts to AIG and targets Treasury Secretary

  

  US lawmakers in the House of Representatives have voted in favour of a bill to levy a 90% tax on big bonuses from firms bailed out by taxpayers.

• Friday, March 20th 2009 - 05:36 UTC

  Argentina’s current account surplus begun downturn in fourth quarter

  

  Argentina's fourth-quarter current account surplus shrank 40% from a year earlier to 1.81 billion USD, mainly because of a smaller merchandise trade surplus as the global financial crisis hurt the local economy, the government said on Thursday.

• Thursday, March 19th 2009 - 16:51 UTC

  Chilean economy expands 0.2% in fourth quarter and 3.2% in 2008

  

  The Chilean economy expanded 0.2% in the last quarter of 2008 closing the year with an overall growth of 3.2%, according to data released by the Central Bank.

• Thursday, March 19th 2009 - 16:30 UTC

  World Bank forecasts China to expand 6.5% in 2009

  

  The World Bank estimates China's gross domestic product for 2009 will be 6.5%, falling short of China's own prediction of 8% growth for the year. Still, the World Bank says China's economy is holding up relatively well and it sees plenty of room for the government to implement effective stimulus measures.

• Thursday, March 19th 2009 - 16:12 UTC

  AIG chief admits “distasteful” excesses but points to the Fed

  

  The boss of US insurer AIG has called the bonuses paid to executives “distasteful” and said he asked some recipients to return at least half. But Edward Liddy said the Federal Reserve knew in November of the 165 million US dollars bonus payments to executives that have caused such a furore in US.

• Thursday, March 19th 2009 - 16:06 UTC

  Federal Reserve will buy 1.2 trillion USD of debt to boost lending

  

  The US Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it will buy almost 1.2 trillion US dollars worth of debt to help boost lending and promote economic recovery. The US central bank said it would start buying long-term government debt and expand purchases of mortgage-related debt.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 08:18 UTC

  Bank of England calls for urgent G-20 “joint commitment” on stimulus plans

  

  Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has issued a rallying cry for joined-up international efforts to pull the global economy out of a “sudden, severe and simultaneous” downturn.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 08:03 UTC

  Nobel Prize Krugman says US and EU stimulus packages insufficient

  

  The US economist and Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman said Tuesday that Europe and the United States should at least double their fiscal efforts in order to salvage the global economy.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 08:02 UTC

  Car sales in Chile plunge 55% in first two months of 2009

  

  Sales of new cars and light trucks in Chile plunged 54.8% in the first two months of 2009 compared to the same period a year ago the country's automotive association ANAC said Tuesday.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 07:43 UTC

  IMF forecasts 0.6% global contraction this year

  

  The International Monetary Fund expects the global economy to contract 0.6% this year, according to forecasts provided on Tuesday by an IMF official in Lisbon.