Economy

• Wednesday, January 4th 2017 - 11:12 UTC

  Good weather prospects for Brazil's anticipated record soybean crop

  

  Rain showers forecast for this week should benefit soybean crops across Brazil and should not be heavy enough to hamper harvesting of the first shipments of the 2016-17 season, meteorologists said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2017 - 09:13 UTC

  UK ambassador to EU steps down criticizing preparations for Brexit negotiations

  

  UK's ambassador to the European Union urged British colleagues in Brussels to challenge “muddled thinking and... speak truth to power” as he quit ahead of Brexit talks, according to the BBC. Writing to staff, Sir Ivan Rogers said ministers needed to hear “unvarnished” and “uncomfortable” views from Europe.

• Tuesday, January 3rd 2017 - 19:57 UTC

  Argentina reinstates refunds for agriculture exports

  

  Argentina has decided to reinstate refunds for agriculture exports, responding to a promise to the provinces from president Mauricio Macri but also to prop foreign trade and boost the most dynamic sector of an anemic economy. The fiscal cost is estimated in 165 million dollars and is extensive to wheat flour, beef, sunflower oil, powder milk, cheese, honey and other produce from the provinces.

• Tuesday, January 3rd 2017 - 19:41 UTC

  Magallanes salmon harvest reaches 68.000 tons in 2016

  

  Salmon farming production in Magallanes region, extreme south of Chile reached 68.000 tons in 2016, a 30% increase over the previous year, according to Drago Covacich, head of the Magallanes Salmon and Trout farmers.

• Monday, January 2nd 2017 - 12:41 UTC

  Castro condemns “obsolete mentality” against foreign capital, as economy contracts

  

  In spite the significant surge in tourism set off by the detente with the United States, Cuba’s economy shrank in 2016 for the first time in nearly a quarter century with the main culprit: a plunge in aid from crisis-stricken Venezuela. President Raul Castro called on the Cuban people to overcome the obsolete mentality against foreign capital.

• Monday, January 2nd 2017 - 12:27 UTC

  Italy will eventually want to quit the Euro, forecasts top German economist

  

  The head of Germany's Ifo economic institute believes Italians will eventually want to quit the euro currency area if their standard of living does not improve, he told German daily Tagesspiegel.

• Monday, January 2nd 2017 - 12:21 UTC

  China pledges to boost investment in tourism and promises “toilet revolution”

  

  China said it will boost investment in tourism, with plans to develop rustbelt regions and upgrade public toilets high on its to-do list as it looks to lift the sector's contribution to economic growth.

• Monday, January 2nd 2017 - 05:45 UTC

  Argentina's new economic team aims to fight budget deficit and reform the tax code

  

  In his first public comments since his appointment, Argentine Economy minister Nicolas Dujovne told a press conference that his main objective would be to continue with center-right President Mauricio Macri's economic policies.

• Saturday, December 31st 2016 - 16:25 UTC

  Argentina GDP contracts 3.8% in third quarter: sharp declines in manufacturing and construction

  

  Argentina’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell 3.8% at the end of the third quarter of the year, with sharp declines in manufacturing, construction and consumption, the INDEC official statistics bureau reported.

• Friday, December 30th 2016 - 17:49 UTC

  Petrobras sale of assets still US$ 1.5bn short of 2015/16 divestment target

  

  Brazil's oil and gas corporation Petrobras announced this week the sale of ethanol and petrochemicals assets for US$587 million, but said it would still fall US$1.5 billion short of its divestment target for the 2015-2016 period.