Economy

• Friday, January 18th 2019 - 10:12 UTC

  Evo Morales’ Bolivia: Abiding the constitution or ensuring the results of sustained economic growth

  

  The Economist has published a piece on Bolivia and its first indigenous president, Evo Morales, who has managed the economy of the continent's poorest country with sustained success during thirteen years. But he has also a strong authoritarian attitude, given his dominance of government branches, and the support of the electorate, mostly indigenous or mestizo. In this scenario, he is running for a fourth consecutive presidential period, which the Constitution bans.

• Friday, January 18th 2019 - 10:04 UTC

  Wholesale prices in Argentina reach 73.5% in 2018; Peso rallies 10% in the midst of recession

  

  Wholesale prices in Argentina shot 73.5% higher in 2018, government data showed on Thursday, the fastest rate since 2002 when they climbed 118% during an economic crisis that tossed millions of middle-class Argentines into poverty.

• Friday, January 18th 2019 - 10:01 UTC

  EU prepares contingency plans for a UK disorderly departure

  

  French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said a no-deal Brexit looks “less and less unlikely” and has launched a contingency plan to prepare for it. After the UK Parliament rejected the withdrawal agreement, Mr Philippe said laws had to be passed and millions invested in French ports and airports.

• Friday, January 18th 2019 - 09:39 UTC

  China moves in after Hitachi and Toshiba abandon nuclear plants' plans in UK

  

  China’s General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) will bring forward plans to build a nuclear plant in Britain, it said on Thursday, helping plug a gap left by the failure of two Japanese projects.

• Friday, January 18th 2019 - 09:03 UTC

  UK and Spain agree to guarantee reciprocal suffrage at municipal level post-Brexit

  

  Spain’s Foreign Minister Josep Borrell announced this week that Madrid and London have agreed to guarantee electoral rights in local elections for British residents in Spain and Spanish residents in the UK post-Brexit.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 10:10 UTC

  Petrobras allowed to sell 90% stake in gas pipeline unit, estimated at US$ 7bn

  

  Brazil’s solicitor general has overturned one injunction that prevented state-controlled oil company Petrobras from proceeding with one of its largest divestitures, the government said in a statement.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 09:08 UTC

  China injects US$ 83bn to the financial system hoping to prop a declining economy

  

  China’s central bank injected a record US$ 83 billion into the country’s financial system on Wednesday, seeking to avoid a cash crunch that would put further pressure on the weakening economy. China’s policymakers are pledging to step up stimulus measures this year and do more to protect jobs as economic growth cools to 28-year lows.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 08:52 UTC

  Goldman Sachs apologizes and blames former partner for Malaysia's major corruption scandal

  

  Goldman Sachs new boss has apologized to Malaysia for the role an ex-partner played in the corruption scandal at one of the country's wealth funds. However, chief executive David Solomon also distanced the bank from the scheme, which saw billions embezzled from the state development fund, 1MDB.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 08:44 UTC

  EU frustrated, (and divided), but waiting for Mrs. May and Westminster Brexit B plan

  

  European Council President Donald Tusk has hinted that the UK should stay in the EU, after the prime minister's Brexit deal was rejected in parliament. “If a deal is impossible, and no-one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?” he tweeted.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 07:31 UTC

  PM May wins no-confidence vote; calls on all parties to work constructively to forward Brexit

  

  Theresa May has called on MPs to “put self-interest aside” and “work constructively together” to find a way forward for Brexit. Earlier, the prime minister won a vote of no confidence by 325 to 306, as rebel Tory MPs and the DUP backed her to stay in No 10. But just 24 hours before, both groups ensured her Brexit plan was voted down.