Economy

• Tuesday, December 12th 2017 - 08:33 UTC

  Scottish Brexit minister calls for “basic answers” to the UK/EU deal

  

  Scottish Brexit minister Mike Russell has called for “basic answers” about the deal struck with European leaders ahead of talks with UK ministers. Mr Russell is in London for a summit with members of the UK government and the other devolved administrations.

• Tuesday, December 12th 2017 - 08:13 UTC

  Peruvian president admits working for Odebrecht, as financial advisor or irrigation project

  

  Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski acknowledged that he worked as a financial adviser for an irrigation project owned by the Brazilian builder Odebrecht, contradicting his previous denials of having any links to the company. Odebrecht is at the center of Latin America’s biggest graft scandal and has admitted to paying about US$ 30 million in bribes to secure contracts in Peru over a decade.

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 16:37 UTC

  Futures market for Bitcoins took off on Sunday at Chicago Board Options Exchange

  

  The first-ever Bitcoin future jumped after it began trading on Sunday as the increasingly popular virtual currency made its debut on a major U.S. exchange. The futures contract that expires in January surged more than US$3,000 to US$18,010 four hours after trading launched on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The contract opened at US$15,000, according to data from the CBOE.

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 16:02 UTC

  UK fishermen urge call for a short Brexit transition period: nine month is enough

  

  Fishermen's leaders have urged ministers to rule out a long Brexit transition as officials meet in Brussels for fish quota talks. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) said only a nine-month transition period was needed for UK fleets to leave the Common Fisheries Policy.

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 15:50 UTC

  US economy closer to full employment as job growth remains steady

  

  United States jobs growth was better than expected in November, with payrolls rising by 228,000. Service, health care and manufacturing firms helped to drive the gains, holding the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%.

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 15:36 UTC

  EU/Japan sign free trade deal comprising 30% of global GDP and reaffirm rejection of protectionism

  

  The European Union and Japan have concluded negotiations on a giant free trade deal that they said was reached while “fighting the temptation of protectionism”, a message apparently directed at U.S. President Donald Trump. The deal, which the EU called its biggest ever, must be signed and ratified by both sides.

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 15:10 UTC

  Brazilian 2017 inflation below target for the first time in two decades

  

  Brazil's monthly inflation eased more-than-expected in November after accelerating in the previous month, mainly due to the continued fall in food prices, preliminary data from IBGE showed on Friday. The consumer price index rose 0.28% month-on-month following 0.42% in October.

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 04:57 UTC

  Mercosur/EU closer to an agreement but differences on new farm proposal remain undecided

  

  The European Union’s farm chief pressed Mercosur countries to offer market access for EU wines, spirits, olive oil and dairy goods to help seal a free-trade agreement that has been in the works for two decades.

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 02:13 UTC

  WTO summit takes off in Buenos Aires: anybody's guess what the outcome can be

  

  Under fire from the United States, wracked by disagreements over China and unable to kick-start stalled trade talks, the World Trade Organization meets under a cloud in Argentina from this Sunday. The Buenos Aires meeting will be the first in the era of US President Donald Trump, who has pummeled the 164-member body relentlessly since taking office, even describing it as a “disaster”

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 01:48 UTC

  Fishing subsidies to be on the WTO summit table in Buenos Aires

  

  Meeting for the first time in Latin America, the World Trade Organization’s 11th Ministerial Conference will take place in Buenos Aires from 10-13 December. Central to this year’s talks will be an international deal to curb harmful fishing subsidies. These are government payments or tax breaks that contribute to overcapacity, overfishing and illegal fishing (IUU) globally.