Economy

• Friday, August 11th 2017 - 12:19 UTC

  Ex top officer calls Brexit a “catastrophe”; proposes a new party “The Democrats” with the Remainers

  

  UK government ministers have been put under pressure by David Davis’s former chief of staff at the Brexit department after he asked a serious of pointed question about how leaving the EU will affect their patches. James Chapman, who also worked for George Osborne and as political editor of the Daily Mail, has revealed his belief that Brexit would be a “catastrophe”.

• Friday, August 11th 2017 - 11:57 UTC

  Temer heckled after addressing a business conference in Rio do Janeiro

  

  President Michel Temer, whose popularity is the lowest for a Brazilian head of state in decades and who last week was spared from standing trial on corruption charges by the vote of his allies in Congress, was booed at the conclusion of his appearance at a trade fair in Rio do Janeiro.

• Friday, August 11th 2017 - 11:54 UTC

  Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America drops for second year running

  

  The flows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Latin America and the Caribbean shrank 7.9% in 2016 compared with 2015, totaling US$167.043 billion, representing a 17% decline from the peak reached in 2011, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) revealed at its headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

• Friday, August 11th 2017 - 11:36 UTC

  Massive 356 kilos emerald unearthed in northern Brazil

  

  A massive 356 kilos emerald was unearthed recently by miners inside the Carnaiba Mine in Brazil. This incredible emerald specimen stands 1.3 meters tall and is valued at approximately US$ 309 million.

• Friday, August 11th 2017 - 07:57 UTC

  Falklands' second Loligo season very promising but by-catch of fur seals forces an exclusion zone

  

  The Falkland Islands second Loligo squid season has taken with very good catches, but good catches also means abundance of the cephalopodus, and... of those sea mammals that feed on them. Because of this a temporary exclusion zone around Beauchene Island was put in place on Thursday making this productive area for Loligo squid out of bounds to fishing vessels.

• Thursday, August 10th 2017 - 20:05 UTC

  Brazil´s annualized inflation in July was 2.71%, the lowest since 1999

  

  Brazilian prices rose in July at an annual rate of 2.71%, the lowest for 18 years, the government statistics office said Wednesday. This was good news for consumers in Latin America's biggest economy, which is inching out of its deepest recession in history, and was considered likely to lead to sharper interest rate cuts.

• Thursday, August 10th 2017 - 19:56 UTC

  Rogoff warns about personal and corporate debt as main threats to global economy

  

  A sudden rise in interest rates poses the greatest threat to the global economy, the IMF's former chief economist has told the BBC. Ken Rogoff, who famously predicted a big bank would collapse during the financial crisis, warned that people had got used to ultra-low interest rates and said the economic policies of the Trump administration posed a risk.

• Thursday, August 10th 2017 - 19:51 UTC

  Ex US Treasury Secretary says loosening financial regulations, “not a good idea”

  

  Jack Lew, former US treasury secretary, has told the BBC the world remains at risk from financial threats. He says loosening regulation would not be a good idea: ”We should not disarm at a moment when we're out of the last financial crisis, but still in a world with substantial financial risks.

• Thursday, August 10th 2017 - 11:27 UTC

  Triple digit inflation in Venezuela: US dollar trades at 10.387 Bolivar; minimum wage 97.531 Bolivar

  

  The extreme volatility of Venezuela's exchange rate has the crisis-hit country's shop owners hurriedly marking up their merchandise and consumers balking at the higher price tags. Just last week, the Bolivar currency fell around 70% on the black market, according to DolarToday, the opaque U.S.-based website that dictates the black market rate.

• Thursday, August 10th 2017 - 09:59 UTC

  Argentine farmers investing heavily for the next planting season following on a record crop year

  

  Argentine farmers will increase investments in the next corn planting season despite fears about a political comeback for former President Cristina Fernandez, who implemented export taxes and restrictions despised by the sector, according to industry leaders.