Economy

• Saturday, April 22nd 2017 - 09:15 UTC

  ExxonMobil betting heavily in developing Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale gas

  

  ExxonMobil is planning to speed up investment plans for shale gas drilling in Argentina’s prized Vaca Muerta formation in the Neuquen province. Exxon will start drilling Vaca Muerta in May, by drilling horizontal wells with laterals of 2,500-3,000 meters, Neuquen province governor Omar Gutierrez said this week.

• Friday, April 21st 2017 - 10:18 UTC

  EU/Mercosur accord is expected to be announced at WTO assembly in Argentina next December

  

  An optimistic foreign minister Susana Malcorra said that Argentina expects the Mercosur/European Union trade agreement to be announced next December during the World Trade Organization meeting to be held in Buenos Aires, and which she described as an event of great political impact.

• Friday, April 21st 2017 - 10:08 UTC

  Trump administration plans to release major tax reform plan “very soon”

  

  United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday the Trump administration plans to release a “major tax reform” plan “very soon”. While the secretary has more recently backed away from meeting his own August deadline, Mnuchin's comments on Thursday reinforced his own commitment to finalize an overhaul of U.S. tax policy in 2017.

• Thursday, April 20th 2017 - 23:21 UTC

  Russian shipping conglomerate suing Venezuela's oil giant PDVSA for unpaid fees

  

  Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, sent a tanker in October to the Caribbean with the expectation that its cargo of crude would fetch about US$20 million - money the crisis-stricken nation desperately needs. Instead, the owner of the tanker, the Russian state-owned shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot, held the oil in hopes of collecting partial payment on US$30 million that it says PDVSA owes for unpaid shipping fees.

• Thursday, April 20th 2017 - 06:33 UTC

  Chubut province declared in state of emergency and agriculture disaster

  

  Chubut province in Argentine Patagonia has been declared in state of emergency and eight of its 16 counties in agriculture disaster as a consequence of torrential rainfall and mudslides which have left huge areas isolateds, or cut off from the communications network.

• Wednesday, April 19th 2017 - 21:12 UTC

  World Bank praise for Latam countries pursuing counter-cyclical fiscal policies

  

  In a positive development, today more than ever before, Latin American and Caribbean countries are pursuing counter-cyclical fiscal policies - spending more in bad times and saving in good times, according to a new World Bank semiannual report for the region.

• Wednesday, April 19th 2017 - 14:38 UTC

  Brazilian economy gives signs of recovery, but many challenges remain

  

  Economic activity in Brazil grew in February at the fastest pace since January 2010, a central bank indicator showed this week, in the strongest sign yet that Latin America's largest economy is emerging from a two-year recession. Bumper harvests are expected to have lifted agricultural production in the first quarter of the year, while industrial output improved on a pickup in car exports.

• Wednesday, April 19th 2017 - 05:49 UTC

  The disputed FIH Group plans to release this week a trading update

  

  FIH Group PLC said on Tuesday it plans to release a trading update later this week which will outline its anticipated results for the recently ended financial year while also updating shareholders on the future strategy following failed takeover offers for the firm.

• Wednesday, April 19th 2017 - 04:59 UTC

  The snap election and consequences seen from the European Union

  

  Prime Minister Theresa May announcement of a June snap election could strengthen her hand in the Brexit negotiations but the rest of the European Union was firm about its position in the two-year talks, insisting that their stance would be unchanged whatever the result.

• Wednesday, April 19th 2017 - 04:13 UTC

  Macri confident a Mercosur/European Union trade accord can be expected in the second half of 2017

  

  Argentine president Mauricio Macri is convinced that in the second half of the year Mercosur will sign the long awaited trade agreement with the European Union and will establish closer links with the Pacific Alliance, according to a report in one of Buenos Aires leading radios.