
Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that it will give struggling homeowners at least six months before launching repossession action. The NatWest parent said it was doubling the three-month breathing space currently offered to borrowers who fall behind with mortgage repayments.

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's government defended the controversial financial incentive scheme proposed in its anti-crisis bill last week, which will be debated this week in Congress, stating that there is no chance it will promote money laundering.

The British government has denied a shift in policy on the Euro after the European Commission's president said the UK was closer than ever before to joining.

Chile's Finance minister said one month's fiscal deficit is no problem and minimized the impact of the strong increase in government expenditure in October as in most of the other nine months.

The US National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the US has been in a recession since December 2007. The NBER said that the deterioration in the labour market throughout 2008 was one key reason why it decided to state that the recession began last year.

China's President Hu Jintao has warned that the global financial crisis could weaken his country's competitiveness. Mr Hu gave his warning at a meeting of the Politburo and his words have been made public by the state media.

Magallanes Region in the extreme south of Chile seems prepared to endure the effects of the coming global recession according to a report published Sunday by the country's main daily in Santiago, El Mercurio.

As was anticipated Mercosur senior members Argentina and Brazil proposed Friday an increase of the common external tariff, (AEC) for certain products, and as was expected junior members Uruguay and Paraguay rejected the idea.

Unemployment in the European Union 15 nations that share the Euro shot up to 7.7% in October ? the highest level in two years ? as growth dropped sharply. Inflation on the other hand plunged to 2.1% in November as oil came down from the record prices of last July.

LAN Chile is reviewing its investment plans given the expected deceleration in world air traffic next year, although the company remains particularly strong and resilient to outside turbulences, according to Enrique Cueto, executive vice-president of Chile's flan carrier.