Economy

• 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”.

• Saturday, February 11th 2017 - 07:51 UTC

  Brexit Bill faces Lords' battle, where Tories do not have a majority

  

  Prime Minister Theresa May will face a parliamentary battle to get her Brexit Bill through the House of Lords as Labour launched its effort to rewrite the legislation. The House of Commons overwhelmingly backed legislation allowing the PM May to formally begin Brexit without altering it, but the British Government will face a stiffer test in the Lords where the Tories do not have a majority.

• Saturday, February 11th 2017 - 07:36 UTC

  Mercosur meeting in March to address internal tariffs and Mexico

  

  Mercosur foreign ministers will be meeting next March 9 in Buenos Aires in the framework of Argentina's pro tempore chair and following on the Argentine/Brazilian presidents recent meeting when it was decided to give the group a new thrust taking advantage of the new world scenario.

• Saturday, February 11th 2017 - 07:14 UTC

  UK's “exit bill” £ 48 billion? “It would be like leaving a bar without paying for your drinks”

  

  The European Commission has refused to discuss the size of the “exit bill” to be handed to the UK when it withdraws from the EU, amid reports the demand has been fixed at around £48 billion.

• Friday, February 10th 2017 - 18:49 UTC

  Goldman Sachs hedge fund closing London operations and moving to New York

  

  A Goldman Sachs hedge fund is closing its London operations and moving staff to New York, the firm has confirmed. About eight staff members who were part of the Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (GSIP) Team in London have been told to move. The decision follows the departure of the team's managing director, Nick Advani.

• Friday, February 10th 2017 - 11:33 UTC

  Strike at world's largest copper mine in Chile; long conflict forecasted

  

  Workers at BHP Billiton's Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world's largest, walked off the job on Thursday in a strike that threatens to disrupt the international supply of the widely used metal. It said no miners arrived for morning work aboard buses that normally carry upwards of 1,200 workers per shift to the vast deposit, which accounted for about 6% of global production in 2015.

• Friday, February 10th 2017 - 11:28 UTC

  Spain must act intelligently in its approach to Gibraltar, says foreign minister

  

  Spain’s Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, said that he believed Gibraltar should be Spanish, though he added Spain must be intelligent in its approach to the Rock. He was speaking during a wide-ranging interview on the morning politics show Los Desayunos, on state broadcaster TVE1.

• Thursday, February 9th 2017 - 20:41 UTC

  Uruguay's budget deficit 4% of GDP in 2016, worst performance since 1989

  

  Uruguay's budget deficit reached 4% of GDP during 2016, equivalent to US$ 2.043bn, the worst performance since 1989, according to the latest figures released by the government's stats office, INE. The previous year, 2015 ended with a budget deficit of 3.6% of GDP, which also set a record only comparable to 2002 (3.7%), when Uruguay underwent one of its most challenging financial meltdowns in decades.