Economy

• Thursday, December 28th 2017 - 09:44 UTC

  Latin America has started to look seriously at Indian economy and opportunities By R. Viswanathan  

  

  Latin America's GDP growth is projected to increase to 2.2% in 2018 from 1.3% in 2017. The Pink Tide  has receded for the moment, giving rise to more centre right governments in the region. In 2018, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Venezuela will have presidential elections. Venezuela’s political and economic tragedy could get worse.

• Thursday, December 28th 2017 - 09:24 UTC

  Brazil suspends fish exports to the EU over inspection discrepancies

  

  Brazil said it was suspending fish exports to the European Union in response to concerns raised by Brussels' veterinary inspectors. The move was aimed at preventing the EU itself from ordering a suspension, said Luis Rangel, the secretary of state in charge of fisheries.

• Wednesday, December 27th 2017 - 14:54 UTC

  Gasoline, another kind of business in Venezuelan scarcity

  

  It is paradoxical how a country with the largest oil reserves in the world has a shortage of gasoline. Of course, Venezuela does not produce gasoline as such, but sells crude oil and imports gasoline, so with the sanctions imposed by various nations and the very crisis that PDVSA (State Company) suffers - which according to the unions works approximately 13% of its capacity- complicate the problem.

• Wednesday, December 27th 2017 - 11:08 UTC

  Argentine Air Force base turned into an airport for low cost airlines' operations

  

  El Palomar airport to the west of metropolitan Buenos Aires was officially incorporated to Argentina's National System of Airports and will be open for the low cost airlines to operate, beginning January.

• Wednesday, December 27th 2017 - 10:44 UTC

  Brazil is the world's ninth largest producer of hydrocarbons

  

  Brazil has produced 3.3 million barrels per day (b/d) of petroleum and other liquids so far in 2017, according to data through August, up from 3.2 million b/d in 2016, making it the ninth-largest producer of petroleum and other liquids in the world. Production of crude oil in Brazil increased in recent years as producers targeted large, offshore, pre-salt oil deposits. Brazil’s pre-salt oil production in 2016 reached a record 1.02 million b/d, surpassing the 2015 production level by 33%.

• Wednesday, December 27th 2017 - 09:52 UTC

  US poverty rate down; but top 5% of families accounted for more than one fifth of total income in 2016

  

  A stronger US economy lifted American household incomes in 2016 and drove the poverty rate down to the level seen before the financial crisis. The median household income increased by 3.2% to US$59,039, rising for a second consecutive year as more people found full time jobs.

• Wednesday, December 27th 2017 - 09:36 UTC

  Moody's expects Argentine economic recovery in 2018 and 2019

  

  Credit risk rating agency Moody's expects Argentina's economic recovery to continue in 2018 and 2019, helped by the reforms advanced by the Mauricio Macri's administration in the last two years.

• Sunday, December 24th 2017 - 17:21 UTC

  EU bureaucracy ready to sign deal with Mercosur, but France and Ireland object

  

  The European Union now hopes to conclude a trade deal with the Mercosur bloc by February next year. EU agriculture chief Phil Hogan admitted that there were still 15 “open issues”, following a “difficult” meeting with the Mercosur countries in Buenos Aires last week.

• Saturday, December 23rd 2017 - 12:29 UTC

  Trump boasts his Xmas present: the US$ 1.5tn tax overhaul law as promised

  

  US President Donald Trump signed Republicans’ massive US$1.5 trillion tax overhaul into law, cementing the biggest legislative victory of his first year in office, and also approved a short-term spending bill that averts a possible government shutdown. Trump said he wanted to sign the tax bill before leaving Washington for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, rather than stage a more formal ceremony in January, so he could keep his promise to finish work before Christmas.

• Saturday, December 23rd 2017 - 10:14 UTC

  Venezuela's economy contracted a massive 16.5% in 2016, admits government

  

  Venezuela's economy shrank a massive 16.5% in 2016, according to an official government filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The oil-rich but impoverished country attributed the collapse to a contraction of 9.9% in the oil sector and 16.1% in the non-oil economy.