Finance ministers from the G7 group of leading industrial countries meeting in Washington have called on China to allow its currency to rise in value more quickly. Beijing must do more to let the Renminbi appreciate, said G7 ministers.
United States stocks tumbled lower Friday (anniversary of 19 October 1987 Black Monday) closing a disastrous week sparked by poor bank and company earnings reports plus growing concerns about the state of the economy.
World trade talks are progressing and appear to be edging close to a deal, Brazil's ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday. In Pretoria a summit of presidents from host South Africa, Brazil and India seemed to confirm expectations.
Brazil's Central Bank left this week the October reference interest rate, Selic, unchanged at 11.25%, putting an end to a monetary policy distention which begun over two years ago.
Inflationary pressures are building in Argentina and there is room for further interest rate increases, a senior IMF official said Wednesday. The warning follows statements earlier in the week by outgoing IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato.
The US dollar is in the midst of an extended period of decline which is forecasted to continue until the third quarter of next year according to the US Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI quarterly forecast.
Argentina is forecasted to expand 5.5% in 2008, the strongest in the region behind Venezuela and Peru according to prospects from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund released Wednesday.
The United States House of Representatives approved Wednesday a new four-year ban on state or local taxation of Internet over the objections of both Republicans and Democrats seeking a permanent ban. The current three-year ban on access taxes expires on November first.
The European Union trade relationship with China is deeply unequal said EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson stressing that the EU sells more goods to Switzerland than to China.
Three of United States largest banks have announced a plan to buy up billions of dollars of troubled investments that lost value in the global credit crunch. The unusual move aims to boost confidence in the market for short-term and sub-prime debt, preventing a further sell-off of such investments.