Economy

• Thursday, February 16th 2017 - 10:43 UTC

  Thirty tons of Venezuelan currency are seized in Paraguay; smuggled from Brazil

  

  Central Bank employees will count about 30 tons of Venezuelan currency seized in a private house in Paraguay, while officials try to figure out why the vast quantity of 50- and 100-bolivar bills was brought into the country. The cash was discovered in Salto del Guaira, a city about 370 kilometers northeast of the capital of Asuncion, on the border with Brazil in a region known for the contraband trade.

• Wednesday, February 15th 2017 - 09:12 UTC

  Brazilian currency at its strongest against the US dollar since July 2015

  

  The Brazilian real gained on Tuesday to its strongest level in more than a year and a half, following a rise in capital inflows and after the central bank resumed currency intervention following a two-week pause. The real firmed 0.45% to 3.096 real per dollar, its strongest showing since July 2015.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2017 - 12:17 UTC

  Petrobras credit rating raised to BB-: improved governance “compares well with those of its peers”

  

  Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s on Friday raised its corporate credit rating on Petrobras, one notch, from B+ to BB-. The rating change does not lift Petrobras out of the non-investment grade category, but it lowers the risk from “highly speculative” to “speculative.”

• Tuesday, February 14th 2017 - 11:28 UTC

  Brazil forced to import Robusta coffee: first time in decades

  

  Brazil's Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Monday he has asked the country's Foreign Trade Chamber (Camex) for authorization to open robusta coffee imports at near zero tariff, according to the ministry.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2017 - 11:21 UTC

  Uruguay's wool and lamb exports dropped 17% in twelve months

  

  Uruguay wool and lamb exports dropped 17% in dollars in the last twelve months compared to the year before. Of the US$ 265 million shipped overseas, China was the main client with 42% of that total, according to the latest Custom stats.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2017 - 11:17 UTC

  Greater Buenos Aires January consumer prices rose 1.3% in January

  

  Consumer prices in greater Buenos Aires rose 1.3% in January over the previous month, Argentina's official Indec statistics agency announced, far below market expectations and in line with the central bank's annual target. January's reading was slightly above 1.2% inflation in December.

• Tuesday, February 14th 2017 - 10:34 UTC

  Former Goldman Sachs executive and “foreclosure expert”, confirmed as US Treasury Secretary

  

  A bitterly divided Senate on Monday confirmed Steven Mnuchin as United States treasury secretary despite strong objections by Democrats that the former banker ran a “foreclosure machine” when he headed OneWest Bank. Republicans said Mnuchin's long tenure in finance makes him qualified to run the department, which will play a major role in developing economic policy under President Donald Trump.

• Monday, February 13th 2017 - 16:41 UTC

  Argentina expects at least 15 million tons of wheat from the 2016/17 crop

  

  Argentine farmers are expected to harvest at least 15 million tons of wheat in the 2016/17 crop year versus 11.3 million in the previous season, Agriculture Minister Ricardo Buryaile said last week. Wheat planting in Argentina expanded dramatically when President Mauricio Macri eliminated export taxes soon after his December inauguration.

• Monday, February 13th 2017 - 09:20 UTC

  Mercosur/EU technical discussions in Brussels ahead of Buenos Aires meeting

  

  Mercosur representatives will be meeting their European Union counterparts this week, beginning Monday, in Brussels in anticipation of another round of trade and cooperation discussions scheduled for March in Buenos Aires. Mercosur members, under the coordination of Argentina, which currently holds the group's chair are attending with a common position reached after several days of videoconferences.

• Saturday, February 11th 2017 - 13:29 UTC

  German top banker warns London could lose role as gateway to Europe's financial hub

  

  One of Germany's most senior banking regulators has warned London that it is likely to lose its role as “the gateway to Europe” for vital financial services. Dr Andreas Dombret, executive board member for the German central bank, the Bundesbank, said that even if banking rules were “equivalent” between the UK and the rest of the European Union that was “miles away from access to the single market”.