Economy

• Thursday, May 14th 2020 - 08:50 UTC

  Fewer remittances because of Covid-19 will hit hard Central and Latin America

  

  Remittances—the money that immigrants working abroad send home to families on a regular basis—have become a major source of funding for developing countries. In 2019, total global remittances exceeded US$550 billion, putting them on a par with levels achieved by foreign direct investment.

• Thursday, May 14th 2020 - 08:15 UTC

  Chile requests IMF US$ 23,8 billion, under the Flexible Credit Line

  

  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board met on Wednesday in an informal session to discuss a request from the Chilean authorities for a two-year arrangement under the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) with the IMF in an amount equivalent to SDR 17.443 billion (about US$23.8 billion or 1,000 percent of quota).

• Thursday, May 14th 2020 - 08:08 UTC

  Britain's economy shrank 2% in the first quarter and 5.8% in March

  

  Britain's economy shrank 2% in the first three months of the year, rocked by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, official data showed on Wednesday, with analysts predicting even worse to come.

• Thursday, May 14th 2020 - 08:00 UTC

  US Senate votes financial support for local newspapers and broadcast outlets

  

  Thousands of local US newspapers and broadcast outlets, grappling with a massive downturn in advertising because of the Covid-19 pandemic, would be eligible for financial help under legislation introduced in Congress on Wednesday.

• Thursday, May 14th 2020 - 07:46 UTC

  Record US port exports to China while US consumers face shortages

  

  U.S. President Donald Trump ordered meat processing plants to stay open to protect the nation's food supply even as workers got sick and died. Yet the plants have increasingly been exporting to China while U.S. consumers face shortages, analysis of government data showed.

• Thursday, May 14th 2020 - 07:20 UTC

  France dismisses Beijing warnings about arms to Taiwan, suggests China focus on battling Covid-19 pandemic

  

  France dismissed Chinese warnings on Wednesday about selling arms to self-ruled Taiwan, saying it was implementing existing deals and that Beijing should focus on battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Wednesday, May 13th 2020 - 07:55 UTC

  Modest optimism Argentina and bondholders can strike a deal by 22 May

  

  Argentine bonds jumped on Tuesday as the country’s government and creditors sought to strike a deal to restructure US$ 65 billion in foreign debt by May 22 after an initial deadline passed last week without a pact.

• Wednesday, May 13th 2020 - 07:49 UTC

  Parana River embankment collapse hampers Argentina's grains exports

  

  Ships transporting cargo from Argentina's Rosario grain hub through the Parana River are having to reduce their cargoes after a bank collapse obstructed the navigation channel, exporters have revealed.

• Wednesday, May 13th 2020 - 07:37 UTC

  Fed says US households will need more fiscal support and forecasts 20% unemployment

  

  United States businesses and households are going to need more fiscal support to get through what will likely be a longer period of recovery from the coronavirus shutdown than initially expected, Federal Reserve policymakers said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, May 13th 2020 - 07:15 UTC

  US budget deficit in April reaches a record US$ 738 billion: revenue down 55% and outlays up 161%

  

  The United States on Tuesday reported a record US$738 billion budget deficit in April, as an explosion in government spending and a shrinking of revenues amid the novel coronavirus pandemic put it deep into the red.