Economy

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 09:06 UTC

  Opinion polls confirm Lula's popularity and rattles markets

  

  The popularity of imprisoned former Brazilian president Lula da Silva has grown strongly despite his corruption conviction, an election poll on Wednesday showed, a result that rattled markets and raised the possibility that Lula’s running mate could ultimately become the next occupant of the country’s presidential palace.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:58 UTC

  Argentine trade deficit in seven months climbs to US$ 5.9 billion

  

  Argentina posted a trade deficit of US$789 million in July, government statistics agency Indec said on Wednesday, compared with a deficit of US$ 359 million in June and a deficit of US$ 748 million in July 2017.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:52 UTC

  Federal Reserve ready to raise interest rates, according to minutes

  

  United States Federal Reserve officials discussed raising interest rates soon to counter excessive economic strength but also examined how global trade disputes could batter businesses and households, minutes of the U.S. central bank’s last policy meeting showed.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:48 UTC

  Chile's GDP in the second quarter grew 5.3%

  

  Chile's gross domestic product grew 5.3% in the second-quarter of 2018 compared with a year earlier, its biggest jump in nearly six years, the central bank said this week.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:40 UTC

  Scotland urges London to rule out a “deeply damaging and disruptive” no deal Brexit

  

  Scotland's Brexit secretary has urged the UK government to rule out a “no deal Brexit”, arguing that it would be “deeply damaging and disruptive”. Michael Russell was speaking ahead of a major speech by his UK government counterpart Dominic Raab.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:33 UTC

  First container vessel attempting the melting Arctic sea route north of Russia

  

  Danish vessel setting sail from Vladivostok this week is set to become the first container ship to tackle the Arctic sea route north of Russia. The Venta Maersk, owned by Maersk Line, and carrying 3,600 containers, hopes to reach St Petersburg by late September. That could be up to 14 days faster than the southern route via the Suez Canal.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:21 UTC

  Despite trade talks, US and China will impose fresh tariffs beginning Thursday

  

  United States and China are expected to impose fresh tariffs on US$ 16bn of each other's goods on Thursday as their tit-for-tat trade war rages on. The second round of tariffs will see a total of US$ 50bn worth of goods from each side that will now be taxed. Since the opening salvo in July, tensions between the world's two largest economies have escalated, hurting their companies and economies.

• Thursday, August 23rd 2018 - 08:05 UTC

  Argentina rolling over short term debt into longer duration Treasury notes

  

  Argentina sold US$2.1 billion in three and six-month treasury notes, the Treasury Ministry said on Wednesday, as it seeks to direct investors away from shorter-term central bank debt and into longer duration instruments. The amount sold represented more than double the US$ 1 billion in dollar-denominated treasury notes that mature on Friday.

• Wednesday, August 22nd 2018 - 09:00 UTC

  Venezuelan businesses shut down shops to protest last monetary measures

  

  Venezuela's streets were quieter than normal on Tuesday, as a currency devaluation and package of economic measures by populist president Nicolas Maduro went into effect, and the opposition asked storekeepers to shut up shop in protest. Venezuela on Monday cut five zeros from prices and pegged the country’s currency to an obscure state-backed cryptocurrency, as part of a broad set of measures meant to address hyperinflation and an economic crisis.

• Wednesday, August 22nd 2018 - 08:40 UTC

  Brazil's Real plunges past four to the US dollar, first time since March 2016

  

  Most emerging market currencies worldwide rallied on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the head of the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates, while Brazil's Real fell to its lowest in more than two years on political concerns.