Economy

• Saturday, December 21st 2019 - 11:07 UTC

  Argentina appoints team for talks with creditors to renegotiate massive sovereign debt

  

  Argentina appointed a government team to kick off talks with creditors to renegotiate about US$100 billion in sovereign debt as the new center-left administration of President Alberto Fernandez postponed payments on some of its short-term debt.

• Saturday, December 21st 2019 - 11:03 UTC

  Argentina's credit rating downgraded to near-default by Fitch and S&P

  

  Argentina’s credit rating was downgraded to near-default status by two of the biggest global rating companies, Fitch Ratings, and S&P Global after the government said it would delay payments on its short term dollar-denominated local debt.

• Saturday, December 21st 2019 - 10:29 UTC

  Boris Johnson on target: “the Brexit vote wrapped up for Christmas”

  

  Prime Minister Boris Johnson won approval for his Brexit deal in parliament on Friday, the first step towards fulfilling his election pledge to deliver Britain's departure from the European Union by Jan 31 after his landslide victory.

• Friday, December 20th 2019 - 09:58 UTC

  Boris Johnson: Political status of the Falkland Islands is not going to change

  

  Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his Christmas message to the Falkland Islands points out the second commercial flight to South America as the great achievement of 2019, and assures that his government's support “for your right to determine your own political status is not going to change”

• Friday, December 20th 2019 - 09:51 UTC

  Bill authorizing mining in Brazilian protected indigenous reserves is ready, said Bolsonaro

  

  Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that a bill authorizing mining on protected indigenous reserves was ready and only needed to be sent to Congress for consideration.

• Friday, December 20th 2019 - 09:50 UTC

  World Bank warns on wave of growing debt in emerging and developing nations

  

  A wave of debt in emerging and developing nations has grown faster and larger than in any period of the last five decades and could end with another crisis, the World Bank warned on Thursday.

• Friday, December 20th 2019 - 09:46 UTC

  IMF releases loan tranche to embattled Ecuadorean government

  

  The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved a delayed loan tranche for Ecuador, releasing nearly US$500 million under a three-year aid program. The IMF board gave the go-ahead for a US$4.2 billion loan in March to help support the oil-rich nation's economic reforms, but massive protests led by indigenous groups erupted in October when President Lenin Moreno scrapped fuel subsidies, causing gasoline prices to soar.

• Friday, December 20th 2019 - 09:43 UTC

  UK Parliament ready to vote the Brexit divorce deal with the European Union

  

  Britain's freshly-elected parliament prepared on Friday to move past years of partisan wrangling and initially approve Prime Minister Boris Johnson's divorce deal with the European Union.

• Friday, December 20th 2019 - 09:40 UTC

  US Lower House overwhelmingly approves the new North America trade deal

  

  The United States House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a new North American trade deal on Thursday that includes tougher labor and automotive content rules but leaves US$1.2 trillion in annual United States-Mexico-Canada trade flows largely unchanged.

• Friday, December 20th 2019 - 08:56 UTC

  Brazil central bank raises 2020 growth forecast to 2.2%

  

  Brazil’s central bank on Thursday raised its 2020 gross domestic product growth forecast to 2.2% in its quarterly inflation report from 1.8% previously but cautioned it was conditional on continued progress on economic reforms.