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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, July 31st 2025 - 23:39 UTC

Economy

  • Thursday, December 1st 2016 - 15:39 UTC

    Argentine Senate passes 2017 Budget, caps Executive's “super powers” to reallocate funds at will

    It's a “realistic budget”, according to Senator Pedro Braillard Poccard

    The Argentine Senate passed Wednesday the 2017 National Public Administration Budget bill and approved a reform to the Financial Administration Law, which limits the Executive Branch's discretion and power to reallocate budget items.

  • Thursday, December 1st 2016 - 15:30 UTC

    Russia ready to do its part as OPEC countries agree on oil output cut

    Russia ready to follow suit after OPEC countries agree to cut down oil production, says minister Alexander Novak

    As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has reached a deal among all 14 members to cut oil production for the first time since 2008, Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said his country was ready to do its part by reducing 300,000 barrels per day in the first half of 2017, provided OPEC adheres to the level of 32.5 mln barrels daily adjusted for Indonesia and on condition of maximum reciprocity from other non-OPEC countries. Russia is not an OPEC member.

  • Thursday, December 1st 2016 - 14:00 UTC

    ºBrazil central bank lowers Selic rate to 13.75%; warns about global uncertainty

    “The available evidence indicates the pick-up in economic activity may be later and more gradual than previously anticipated,” the central bank said.

    Brazil's central bank cut its key interest rate Wednesday for the second month running, as data showed that the recession hitting Latin America's largest economy continued into the third quarter. The central bank lowered the benchmark Selic rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 13.75% -- still one of the world's highest.

  • Wednesday, November 30th 2016 - 10:49 UTC

    Maduro's Bolivar devalued 60% in November: 3,684 Bolivares to one US dollar

    “Inflation galloping, the Bolivar melts, unrest worsens and the government rectifies nothing,” said Henry Ramos Allup, president of Venezuela's National Assembly

    Leaders of the Venezuelan opposition have blamed President Nicolas Maduro's regime of causing the Bolivar to devalue to unprecedented levels against the U.S. dollar. According to data provided by the currency tracking website DolarToday, the Venezuelan Bolivar fell this week to an all-time low against the U.S. dollar in the black market.

  • Wednesday, November 30th 2016 - 10:14 UTC

    Brazil economic outlook lowered according to Central bank survey

    According to the central-bank survey, economists maintained their outlook for the year-end Selic rate at 13.75% for 2016 and at 10.75% for 2017.

    Economists again lowered their outlook for Brazil's economic performance in 2016 and 2017, as the effects of a deep recession persist in Latin America's largest economy.

  • Wednesday, November 30th 2016 - 09:31 UTC

    Temer signs bill that opens sub-salt oil deposits to private the sector

    With the new bill Petrobras has signaled its reluctance to take on the operator role for new sub-salt projects, and could end up selling stakes in sub-salt projects

    Brazilian president Michel Temer signed legislation on Tuesday which opens the way for oil companies other than state-controlled Petrobras to operate the coveted sub-salt acreage. The bill repeals a controversial 2010 rule that requires Petrobras to hold a minimum 30% operating stake in assets governed by production-sharing contracts, mainly sub-salt assets.

  • Tuesday, November 29th 2016 - 08:49 UTC

    Brazil lost 751,800 formal jobs in ten months of 2016

    From November 2015 to October 2016, Brazil registered a net loss of 1.5 million jobs. In October alone, Brazil lost 74,700 jobs.

    Brazil lost 751,800 formal jobs from January to October 2016, the country's Labour Ministry reported. According to the ministry's unemployment registry, the figures are only slightly better than the same period last year, when the Brazilian economy registered a net loss of 818,900 jobs.

  • Tuesday, November 29th 2016 - 08:37 UTC

    Brazil anticipates soy exports of 60m tons and 30m tons of corn from 2017

    Agroconsult estimates Brazil soybean production at 102.6 MT for 2016/2017, which would be in line with the 103.5 MMT estimate by Brazil’s CONAB

    Brazil is getting ready for a blockbuster 2017 harvest and booming exports, amid favorable weather forecasts, according to recent estimates. With a plentiful harvest expected, Brazil’s National Grain Association predicts grain exports will rebound, with soybean exports of 60 MT in 2017, compared with some 51 MT for 2016. Corn exports will increase to 30 MT, compared with some 18.5 MT in 2016, the association reported.

  • Tuesday, November 29th 2016 - 08:21 UTC

    OECD optimistic about global growth; anticipates strong performance of Argentine economy next year

    “The global economy has the prospect of modestly higher growth, after five years of disappointingly weak outcomes,” said OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria.

    Fiscal initiatives could boost global economic growth, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Monday in its semi-annual economic forecast. The Paris-based think tank predicted a global gross domestic product (GPD) growth rate of 3.3% in 2017, a figure that remained unchanged from its last outlook released in June.

  • Monday, November 28th 2016 - 09:36 UTC

    Doubts about OPEC's production cut agreement make crude oil prices dive

    Uncertainty over output cutdowns keeps pushing oil prices down

    Oil prices fell over 1 percent Monday in Asia following a decline of more than 3 percent Friday over disagreement between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC exporters like Russia. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $46.40 per barrel at 0035 GMT (7.35 a.m. ET), down 84 cents, or 1.8 percent, from their last close, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 74 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $45.32 a barrel.