Economy

• Thursday, October 12th 2017 - 20:55 UTC

  Global food prices up 0.8% in September, according to FAO Index

  

  Global food prices rose slightly in September, as firmer prices of vegetable oils and to a lesser extent dairy products offset declining prices for staple cereal grains. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 178.4 points for the month of September, up 0.8% from August and marking a 4.3% increase from a year earlier.

• Thursday, October 12th 2017 - 20:44 UTC

  IMF forecasts Venezuela's inflation to reach 2.300% next year and unemployment 30%

  

  Venezuela’s triple-digit annual inflation rate is set to jump to more than 2,300% in 2018, the highest estimate for any country tracked by the International Monetary Fund.

• Thursday, October 12th 2017 - 20:31 UTC

  Falklands issues set of crown coins to mark centenary of the Windsor Royal House

  

  The government and treasury of the Falkland Islands have issued (9th October) a new set of crown coins which mark the centenary anniversary of the establishment of the British Royal House. The Royal House came about due to the circumstances just after the fighting for the Great War began (1914–1918).

• Thursday, October 12th 2017 - 18:50 UTC

  FAO calls on all countries to crack down on illegal fishing

  

  All countries should join the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) to make sure the landmark treaty aimed at cracking down on illegal fishing succeeds in its aims of ridding the world of a multibillion-dollar scourge that damages human nutrition and environmental sustainability, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said.

• Thursday, October 12th 2017 - 12:10 UTC

  Brazilian central bank insists on the need to limit pension spending

  

  Brazil’s lawmakers can’t duck their responsibility to pass belt-tightening measures, central bank President Ilan Goldfajn told a Senate hearing in Brasilia this week. Reform proposals, particularly a constitutional amendment to limit pension spending, will help keep inflation low, reduce the structural interest rate and buoy the country’s overall recovery, Goldfajn said.

• Wednesday, October 11th 2017 - 16:02 UTC

  Auto industry in Brazil picking up: 10% sales and output growth forecasted in 2018

  

  Auto industry leaders projected sales and output growth of more than 10% in Brazil next year at an industry event on Monday, underscoring hopes for a rebounding market as Mercedes-Benz announced new investments in bus and truck plants.

• Wednesday, October 11th 2017 - 14:53 UTC

  UK tourism industry booming: 40 million overseas visitors during 2017

  

  Tourism is booming in the UK with nearly 40 million overseas people expected to have visited the country during 2017 - a record figure. Tourist promotion agency VisitBritain forecasts overseas trips to the UK will increase 6% to 39.7 million with spending up 14% to £25.7bn this year. Britons are also holidaying at home in record numbers.

• Wednesday, October 11th 2017 - 14:27 UTC

  World Bank admits millions of jobs will be automated and urges investments in “human capital”

  

  The world is on a “crash course” as people's hopes collide with a future in which millions of jobs are automated, the World Bank chief has said. Jim Yong Kim said policymakers should take action by investing in education and health. The World Bank president spoke in New York ahead of the group's annual meeting in Washington DC this week.

• Tuesday, October 10th 2017 - 16:45 UTC

  Brazil relaunching economic ties with the African continent

  

  Agricultural powerhouse Brazil aims to revive ties with Africa after a lull and sees a vast export market for food and manufactured goods in a continent whose population is surging, its foreign minister said.

• Tuesday, October 10th 2017 - 16:37 UTC

  China's Sinopec considering selling assets in Santa Cruz, Argentina

  

  Argentina’s losses on its oil and gas assets, as well as its labor disputes, have prompted China’s Sinopec to consider selling its operations in the country. Sinopec advisors have offered up some of its assets to about a dozen large firms from the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Russia, it was reported on Monday and confirmed in Beijing media.