Economy

• Tuesday, May 23rd 2017 - 14:55 UTC

  Global food prices down with expectations of robust supplies in key staples

  

  Global food commodity prices fell in April amid expectations of ongoing robust supplies of many key staples. The FAO Food Prices Index averaged 168 points in April, down 1.8% from March although remaining 10% higher than a year earlier.

• Tuesday, May 23rd 2017 - 11:17 UTC

  Latin American exports rebound in first quarter of 2017 pushed by commodity prices

  

  After four consecutive years of contraction, Latin American and Caribbean exports returned to a path of growth. In the first quarter of 2017, the value of goods exports increased 17% year-on-year, having contracted 2.9% in 2016.

• Monday, May 22nd 2017 - 08:51 UTC

  TPP 11 committed to go ahead despite the Trump administration dropping out

  

  Asia-Pacific trade ministers agreed to try to revive a massive free trade pact, even though the United States reaffirmed its decision to pull out, as fears grow of a new global era of protectionism. The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) covered 40% of the global economy before US President Donald Trump abruptly abandoned it in January, to meet a campaign pledge to save American jobs which he says have been sucked up overseas.

• Saturday, May 20th 2017 - 09:02 UTC

  Macri returns from Beijing with US$ 17bn for infrastructure and energy projects

  

  Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have signed in Beijing 16 agreements worth at least US$17 billion in areas such as energy and transport infrastructure, confirming the close links between the two countries.

• Friday, May 19th 2017 - 09:13 UTC

  Trump sets off renegotiation of Nafta in a divided Congress

  

  The Donald Trump administration took the first step toward renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, plunging into a battle that pits some Republicans and industry supporters of the pact against Democrats and some of the president's most ardent backers.

• Thursday, May 18th 2017 - 22:37 UTC

  Bovespa plummets 8.8% and Real suffers the largest drop in 14 years

  

  Brazilian markets plummeted on Thursday as allegations that President Michel Temer condoned bribes to silence a key witness deflated investor optimism about the prospects for his ambitious pension and labor reform agenda.

• Thursday, May 18th 2017 - 21:30 UTC

  Argentina applies to join the China led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank

  

  Foreign Minister Malcorra Susana said on Wednesday that Argentina has applied to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and is willing to be actively involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

• Thursday, May 18th 2017 - 17:36 UTC

  YPF targets US$ 10 cost per barrel at Vaca Muerta shale deposits, by end of 2018

  

  Argentina's oil corporation YPF plans to match United States costs in developing non conventional energy, by the end of 2018. This refers to the very rich shale deposits of Vaca Muerta, with a target of 10 dollars per barrel and for this purpose it has started a program of experimental drillings.

• Wednesday, May 17th 2017 - 21:15 UTC

  Something smells rotten in Brazilian food companies: probes into bribed inspections

  

  Brazilian police on Tuesday opened two separate investigations into whether certain food companies improperly received favorable treatment from the Agriculture Ministry, the latest probe ensnaring the powerful farming sector. The probes into whether inspection procedures were relaxed for meatpacking, dairy and other food companies come two months after industry leaders JBS SA and BRF SA were rocked by allegations of bribing food inspectors.

• Wednesday, May 17th 2017 - 17:44 UTC

  .Brazil seems to be climbing out of the worst recession in history

  

  Brazil is set to show a return to growth, the Central Bank indicated Monday, raising hopes that Latin America’s biggest economy could be inching out of a two-year recession.