Economy

• Tuesday, July 8th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  June, worst month for Argentine retailers since 2002 crisis

  Argentine retail sales at national level “plummeted” in June falling 18.3% compared to the same period a year ago, the worst performance since the country began recovering from the 2001/02 collapse of the economy according to a release from the Argentine Confederation of Small Enterprises, CAME.

• Monday, July 7th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Officials call on Cubans to work and embrace economics

  

  Cuban vice president Esteban Lazo called on his fellow Cubans to understand that “work is essential” and that “we must accept we lack the need for an extraordinary economic culture”.

• Monday, July 7th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  US food price hikes “pale” in comparison to energy prices

  

  In United States as in the rest of world, consumers have suffered the impact on rising food and fuel prices of adverse climate, larger global demand and roaring speculation. But even so on average, US consumers still spend 10% of their income on food, which is possibly the lowest in the world according to the latest surveys from the American Farm Bureau Federation, AFBF.

• Monday, July 7th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile-Uruguay sign strategic association; rap EU on migration

  

  Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and her Uruguayan counterpart Tabare Vazquez expressed on Monday “deep concern” over the new European Union migration policy and argued in favor of the positive aspects of migration.

• Sunday, July 6th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Political turmoil causes 9 billion USD to flee Argentina

  

  An estimated 9 billion US dollars left Argentina between late March and the end of June on fears of growing uncertainties about the country's economy and the on going stand off with farmers who are protesting President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner administration policies towards the camp.

• Saturday, July 5th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  China agrees to pay double for BHP Billiton iron ore

  

  Mining giant BHP Billiton has reached a deal with China's largest steelmaker to almost double iron ore prices. Under the agreement, covering contracts for one year from 1 April 2008, BHP will increase its prices by up to 96.5% for deliveries to state-owned Baosteel.

• Saturday, July 5th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Sao Paulo stock market lost foreign investors in June

  

  Brazilian stocks partly recovered (0.16%) on Friday after their worst week in nearly a year with the Sao Paulo Bovespa index falling 7.7%, -below the 60.000 benchmark-, in line with global markets and concerns about oil and inflation.

• Friday, July 4th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Seoul government cornered by US beef triggered crisis

  South Korea's president called for an end to an on going dispute over United States beef imports, saying it was time for the nation to concentrate on overcoming domestic and economic difficulties.

• Friday, July 4th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  June inflation in Chile is the highest in 17 years: 1.5%

  Chile's Consumer Prices Index rose 1.5% in June accumulating 4.3% in the first half of the year according to the latest release from the country's Statistics Office. This is the highest June inflation since June 1991 (1.8%) and the highest monthly since October 1993 (2.6%).

• Friday, July 4th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Record sale of cars and farm machinery in booming Brazil

  

  The Brazilian automobile industry produced and sold a record number of new vehicles in the first half of 2008, with flex-fuel cars leading the surge according to the auto manufacturers' association, Anfavea, said on Friday.