Economy

• Thursday, February 15th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil's primary surplus planned to drop to 3.75% of GDP

  

  Brazil posted a 4.32% of GDP primary surplus in 2006 compared to 4.83% in 2005 revealed the country's Central Bank. The savings are equivalent to 41 billion US dollars.

• Thursday, February 15th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  EU Parliament votes against diverting farm subsidies

  A European Commission proposal that would have allowed Member States to divert some Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) direct farm payments to rural development spending was almost unanimously rejected by the European Parliament with 89 votes in favour, 584 votes against and 19 abstentions. The Commission must now decide if it will withdrawal the proposal.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  US trade deficit in 2006 remained at 5.8% of GDP

  

  The United States trade deficit rose 6.5% last year reaching a new record high of 763.6 billion US dollars reported Tuesday the US Department of Commerce.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Falklands' new port development plan moves on

  

  The Falkland Islands Development Corporation (FIDC) this week announced the appointment of Scandinavian port experts Royal Haskoning to create a port development plan, which it is hoped will draw together the diverse needs of everyone using port facilities in the Falkland Islands.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentine banks switch to Europe

  

  US financial and anti-money laundering regulations have increased the cost of doing business with US banks to such an extent that Latin American businesses are turning to European financial institutions, Argentina's central bank chief said yesterday.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Fiat and India's Tata to build light trucks in Argentina

  

  Fiat and Tata announced in Milan, Italy the expansion of their strategic co-operation with their first industrial project outside India. Fiat will build a Tata bakkie (with Fiat badges) at its plant in Córdoba, Argentina, under an agreement that followed a feasibility study started in July 2006.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Bank of England hits of new interest rates rise

  

  The Bank of England has hinted that it is likely that interest rates will need to be increased once more to keep inflation in check, although analysts do not expect any rise to be imminent.
  The Bank's latest inflation report forecasts that consumer price inflation would continue to exceed the 2% target if rates stayed at 5.25%.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Strong stock markets reactions to Fed's forecasts

  

  Stock markets in New York and most of Latinamerica set new record gains on Wednesday following US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke statements that the US economy should grow modestly in 2007 despite a slowdown in housing.

• Tuesday, February 13th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Shipowners order US$105.5B of new vessels in 2006

  

  According to London-based Clarkson, the world's biggest shipbroker, shipowners ordered new vessels worth a record US$105.5 billion in 2006. The trend has been spurred by tanker owners keen to upgrade their fleets ahead of IMO single-hull tanker deadlines that kick in at the end of the decade, according to an article published by Gulf News.

• Tuesday, February 13th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Eurozone growth surprises all 2006 forecasts: 2.7%

  

  Eurozone growth ended 2006 strongly, thanks to better-than-expected growth in Germany and recovery in Italy. Gross domestic product across the 13 countries that use the euro grew 0.9% between October and December, compared with the previous three months.