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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, January 29th 2026 - 21:49 UTC

Economy

  • Thursday, May 3rd 2018 - 08:29 UTC

    Dominican Republic drops Taiwan and establishes relations with Beijing

    The Dominican Republic said it believed its switch to ties with China would be “extraordinarily positive for the future of our country”, in an official statement

    The Dominican Republic and China announced on Tuesday they were establishing diplomatic relations as the Caribbean country became the latest nation to dump Taiwan, leaving it with just 19 diplomatic allies around the globe. Taipei said it was “deeply upset” at the decision, which it blamed on “dollar diplomacy”. The move deepens the island's international isolation while its giant neighbor flexes its economic and political might on the global stage.

  • Thursday, May 3rd 2018 - 08:13 UTC

    Euro zone economy grows faster than the UK in the first quarter

    Euro zone expanded 0.4% which is far better than the UK economy, which only grew by 0.1% in the same quarter.

    The European Union economy slowed in the first quarter of the year, official Eurostat figures have showed. Economic growth in the Euro zone slowed to 0.4% for the period from January to March 2018, compared with 0.7% in the previous quarter. Growth in the 19-country single currency bloc reached 2.5% year-on-year.

  • Wednesday, May 2nd 2018 - 20:45 UTC

    Fed leaves rates unchanged, confirms inflation near 2% target; hike expected at June meeting

    Jerome H. Powell chaired the Federal Open Market Committee, which voted unanimously the policy action. Next meeting in June 12/13

    The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, confirmed that inflation is near its 2% target, and strangely enough did not mention a word about the looming international trade confrontation. The central bank after a two-day meeting said inflation over the next 12 months should “run near” the 2% target, updating its language from March that indicated inflation would “move up” towards that level.

  • Wednesday, May 2nd 2018 - 08:25 UTC

    UK agrees on new measures to increase transparency in offshore havens

    Campaigners say public registers make it easier to uncover corruption, money laundering and tax dodging. The move was backed by both Labour and Tory MPs.

    The British government has agreed to calls for new measures aimed at increasing transparency in offshore tax havens. Facing a possible Commons defeat, ministers said they would not oppose an amendment to force British overseas territories to publish details of the true owners of companies based there.

  • Tuesday, May 1st 2018 - 07:20 UTC

    WhatsApp CEO steps down: allegedly clashes with parent company Facebook

    “The team is stronger than ever and it'll continue to do amazing things... And I'll still be cheering WhatsApp on - just from the outside”, said Mr. Koum

    WhatsApp chief executive Jan Koum is to quit the popular messaging service he co-founded. In a post on Facebook, he said he was “taking some time off to do things I enjoy outside of technology”. However, according to a Washington Post report earlier on Monday, Mr Koum had clashed with parent company Facebook over Whatsapp's strategy.

  • Tuesday, May 1st 2018 - 07:00 UTC

    Tariffs dispute: Trump extends deadline for a month to EU, Canada and Mexico

    The Trump administration has reached agreements-in-principle with Argentina, Australia and Brazil, according to the White House statement

    President Donald Trump will delay imposing steel and aluminum tariffs on the European Union, Mexico and Canada until June 1 as he finalizes deals with them, the White House said in a statement. The administration has reached agreements-in-principle with Argentina, Australia and Brazil, according to the statement, which the White House released late Monday night.

  • Monday, April 30th 2018 - 09:04 UTC

    Last round of EU/Mercosur “useful”, but key issues remain to be resolved

    Talks ended earlier than expected, with Argentina and Uruguay leaving the table due to what they saw as a lack of decisiveness from Brazil and the EU.

    The European Union and Mercosur have made some progress on how to open their markets to cars, but ended free trade talks in Brussels on Friday with finger-pointing about who was holding up a deal. The EU and the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay began on-off negotiations towards a trade alliance in 1999, with a fresh impetus since 2016.

  • Sunday, April 29th 2018 - 05:22 UTC

    Argentina increases basic rate 300 points to 30.25% to combat inflation

    “The decision was made with the aim of guaranteeing the disinflation process and the central bank is ready to act again if necessary,” the bank's statement said.

    Argentina's central bank surprised markets at the end of the week by jolting its key interest rate up to 30.25% from 27.25%, citing weakness of the local peso against the US dollar and vowing to act again if high inflation persists.

  • Saturday, April 28th 2018 - 10:22 UTC

    Bees victory: EU votes for a near total ban on insecticides

    Campaigners dressed in black and yellow bee suits rallied outside the headquarters of the EC in Brussels ahead of the vote for a ban on three key pesticide chemicals.(Pic AFP)

    European Union countries voted on Friday for a near-total ban on insecticides blamed for killing off bee populations, in what campaigners called a “beacon of hope” for the winged insects. Bees help pollinate 90 percent of the world’s major crops, but in recent years have been dying off from “colony collapse disorder,” a mysterious scourge blamed on mites, pesticides, virus, fungus, or a combination of these factors.

  • Saturday, April 28th 2018 - 06:59 UTC

    St Helena airport shrugs off ‘world’s most useless’ tag

    St Helena Airport. Photo: SHG Access office.

    Andreas Spaeth (*) The airport on the remote British Overseas Territory island St Helena, once dismissed as the “world’s most useless airport” by British media, is proving to be a reliable asset.