Economy

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Ecuadorean bankers concern about “financial stability”

  Members of Ecuador's private banking sector expressed concern Friday that recent government financial decisions and overall policies, together with the global crisis, are putting the country's financial system in jeopardy.

• Friday, December 19th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguay's record wheat crop nightmare for farmers' pockets

  

  Uruguay expects this year its largest wheat harvest on record, 1.3 million tons including 900.000 for export, according to a report from the Agriculture Ministry Planning and Policies Office, OPYPA.

• Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Hedge fund fraud king with house arrest and electronic tag

  

  Bernard Madoff, the hedge fund boss accused of a 50 billion US dollars fraud, has put up 10 million bail and in effect been placed under house arrest. Mr Madoff turned up at New York's federal court to sign some papers but did not answer reporters' questions.

• Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Rescue plan discussions for British icons Jaguar-Land Rover

  

  British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover is in discussions with the government over a state bail out, Peter Mandelson has announced.

• Wednesday, December 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  IMF calls leders for more interventionist actions

  

  Governments around the globe need to take widespread interventionist action to stimulate stock markets and prevent further economic declines, the International Monetary Fund has said.

• Wednesday, December 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  British pound moving closer to parity with the Euro

  

  The British pound moved ever closer to parity with the Euro on Wednesday amid growing expectations of more deep cuts in UK interest rates. Minutes of the Bank of England's latest meeting revealed rate-setters considered even larger cuts than the 1% move two weeks ago, bringing rates to 2% and equalling the all-time low.

• Tuesday, December 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Ecuador announces second bond interest payment default

  

  Ecuador announced it is defaulting on a second bond payment, interest on 650 million US dollars in Global 15 bonds due through 2015. The announcement comes three days after President Rafael Correa said the country would not make a similar 30.6 million USD payment on Global 12 bonds.

• Tuesday, December 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina bolsters size of the stimulus package to 32 b. USD

  

  Argentina will spend the equivalent of 16.6 billion USD on infrastructure projects next year in an attempt to create 380,000 construction-related jobs it was announced Monday in Buenos Aires.

• Tuesday, December 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Foreign workers monopolize almost all new UK jobs

  

  Almost all the new jobs created in Britain in the last seven years have gone to foreign workers. Of the 1.3million jobs created since 2001, the vast majority - went to non-UK nationals, official figures show. At the same time the number of UK-born workers in employment fell by 62,000.

• Tuesday, December 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  With zero rate, further cuts not an option for the US Fed

  

  The US Federal Reserve has slashed its key interest rate from 1% to a range of between zero and 0.25% as it battles the country's recession. In its statement, the Federal Reserve warned that “the outlook for economic activity has weakened further”.