Economy

• Friday, April 7th 2017 - 10:39 UTC

  Mercosur and Pacific Alliance summit will address potential convergence and Trump's protectionism

  

  Mercosur and Pacific Alliance foreign ministers are scheduled to meet this Friday in Buenos Aires, on an Argentine initiative to advance in a possible political and trade confluence with the prospect of a regional alliance in the near future. The controversial Venezuela case will also be on the table, but attendants have anticipated that they won't let this issue dominate the agenda or cast a shadow on the purpose of the summit.

• Friday, April 7th 2017 - 08:15 UTC

  Massive stoppage in metropolitan Buenos Aires but with limited response in the rest of the country

  

  Airlines in Argentina grounded international flights and riot police scuffled with protesters on Thursday as workers staged a general strike to protest job and pay cuts. Conservative President Mauricio Macri condemned the call to strike where he faces midterm legislative elections in October.

• Thursday, April 6th 2017 - 14:59 UTC

  UK services sector grows stronger than expected during March

  

  Activity in the UK's dominant services sector rose at a faster-than-expected pace in March. The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index (PMI) for services rose to 55, compared with economists' expectations of a slight increase to 53.5. The services sector, which accounts for three-quarters of the UK economy, said business activity and new work grew at the strongest rate so far this year.

• Thursday, April 6th 2017 - 12:53 UTC

  Uruguay's March inflation finally drops to the Central bank target range

  

  Consumer prices in Uruguay rose 0.68% in March, the government said in a statement on Wednesday, bringing the country's 12-month inflation rate to 6.81%. It was the first time since December 2010 that Uruguayan inflation was within the country's 3% to 7% target range.

• Thursday, April 6th 2017 - 08:05 UTC

  General strike in Argentina; Macri hosts the World Economic Forum

  

  Workers are committed to a general strike in recession-hit Argentina on Thursday, drawing complaints from conservative President Mauricio Macri as he prepares to host leaders and business people for an economic forum.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 20:59 UTC

  Tesla electric car maker market value overtakes Ford; 2016 sales reached 76.000

  

  Tesla's market value has overtaken that of Ford after shares in the electric car maker added more than 7%. At the close of trading Tesla had a market value of US$49bn, compared with Ford's value of US$46bn.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 19:27 UTC

  Brazil industrial output still virtually flat; central bank says inflation expectations are “well anchored”

  

  Industrial output in Brazil barely grew in February, government data showed on Tuesday, throwing cold water on hopes of a quicker recovery from a two-year recession. Industrial production rose 0.1% in February from January, government statistics agency IBGE said, short of expectations for a larger increase.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 06:32 UTC

  S&P raised Argentina's credit rating to “B”, on the “verge of exiting recession”

  

  Standard & Poor's raised Argentina's credit rating one notch Tuesday, from B- to B, saying Latin America's third-largest economy was on the verge of exiting recession.The rating bump gives a boost to conservative President Mauricio Macri, who has launched sweeping - often unpopular - economic reforms aimed at reviving growth.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 06:22 UTC

  IDB ends annual meeting with agreement to replenish innovation fund

  

  The Inter-American Development Bank and the Inter-American Investment Corporation wrapped up the annual meeting of their Boards of Governors after reaching an agreement to replenish the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), the IDB Group’s innovation lab.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 06:08 UTC

  Falkland Islands Government appoints Financial Secretary

  

  The Falkland Islands Government has announced the appointment of James Wilson as its Financial Secretary. After a short handover period with Lydia Morrison - who is currently the Interim Financial Secretary - he will formally take up his role on 1 June 2017.