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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, July 17th 2025 - 23:38 UTC

Economy

  • Monday, April 4th 2016 - 04:12 UTC

    Petrobras launches voluntary layoff program to cut 12.000 jobs

    Investors have long criticized Petrobras for over hiring and struggling to cut some of the 57,000 people it directly employs when things get tough.

    Brazil's embattled oil company Petrobras said it will launch a voluntary layoff program to cut an estimated 12,000 jobs in a bid to save up to 33 billion reais ($9.20 billion) by 2020. The program will cost 4.4 billion reais and is open to all employees, according to a statement from Petrobras, which has been hard hit by low oil prices, refinery project problems and a massive price-fixing, bribery and political kickback scandal.

  • Sunday, April 3rd 2016 - 07:52 UTC

    Mega corporation Odebrecht involved in Petrobras case, plans to sell assets to meet debt obligations

    Marcelo Odebrecht was sentenced to 19 years in prision

    Troubled Brazilian construction company Odebrecht SA plans to sell about 12 billion reais (US$3.4 billion) in assets to help meet its debt obligations, according to the builder’s chief executive officer. The company had a gross debt of 85 billion reais in 2014, the most recent figure available, but much of it is long-term debt and the biggest payments start only in 2025, Odebrecht CEO Newton de Souza said in an interview published Friday in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.

  • Sunday, April 3rd 2016 - 07:43 UTC

    US economy gains confidence: 215.000 more jobs in March and 1.4% growth in fourth quarter

    The US economy added 215,000 jobs in March, a little less than it did in February when 242,000 jobs were created. The unemployment rate has risen to 5% from 4.9%, which was an eight-year low, but the Labor Department said more Americans were finding jobs, which suggested a sign of confidence in the US economy. In effect this follows the report on the US economy which grew at an annualized rate of 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2015s.

  • Sunday, April 3rd 2016 - 07:35 UTC

    Argentina promulgates bill which allows for payment of accord with bondholders

    The Argentine government made official the accord reached with the holdout funds sponsored by a New York federal court, to pay for defaulted bonds in a fifteen year litigation, following the approval of the bill by the Senate. This means Argentina can now look for funds in the international monetary market.

  • Sunday, April 3rd 2016 - 07:33 UTC

    Uruguay reaffirms allegiance to Mercosur but admits serious challenges

    Mercosur is a fundamental legal milestone in regional integration, and a turning point in the history of member countries, said Uruguay's foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa during a conference celebrating the 25th anniversary, (March 1991), of the founding of the South American group, who nevertheless admitted serious challenges.

  • Saturday, April 2nd 2016 - 08:07 UTC

    Argentina and China reaffirm strategic relation and agree to review contracts

    The meeting of the two delegations headed by presidents Macri and Xi Jinping in Washington

    China has agreed to review contracts signed with Argentina, which need modifications, for the sake of transparency, according to Buenos Aires sources, but the overall strategic relation between the two countries and a raft of accords in different fields stands and is expected to continue to grow.

  • Saturday, April 2nd 2016 - 07:04 UTC

    How hedge funds held Argentina for ransom

    Companies involved include some of the best-known vulture funds, including NML Capital, subsidiary of Elliott Management, a hedge fund co-led by Paul Singer

    By Martin Guzman and Joseph E. Stiglitz (*) - Perhaps the most complex trial in history between a sovereign nation, Argentina, and its bondholders — including a group of United States-based hedge funds — officially came to an end yesterday (March 31) when the Argentine Senate ratified a settlement.

  • Friday, April 1st 2016 - 07:44 UTC

    UK at Chile's Air and Space Fair offering a significant range of defense products

    This significant UK presence reflects the strong commitment that UK companies have to Chile, the Armed Forces and the region.

    Partnership, disaster relief, industrial cooperation and innovation are the main UK themes as UK companies exhibit a range of world beating defense capabilities at Chile's FIDAE 2016, some attending for the first time, others as a result of having exhibited at a successful FIDAE 2014.

  • Friday, April 1st 2016 - 06:38 UTC

    Busy year ahead for Gibraltar's cruise industry: 227 calls are scheduled

    This year Gibraltar is due to host 91 ships belonging to 37 different operators on 227 occasions. Cruise calls for 2015 were 204 and 181 in 2014.

    Representatives from Gibraltar have attended the annual Seatrade Cruise Global Convention took place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The event, which took place between March 14-17, brings together professionals from in all aspects of the cruise industry, including cruise lines, ports and ground handlers.

  • Friday, April 1st 2016 - 06:07 UTC

    Total/Exxon/Mobil drilling offshore Uruguay a record-deep well; first since 1976

    The well was spud at the “Raya/1” prospect in Block 14 by the Maersk/Venturer drilling ship

    A consortium led by France's Total and U.S.-based super major ExxonMobil Corp started this week drilling for oil off Uruguay, Industry, Energy and Mining Minister Carolina Cosse announced. Uruguay is totally reliant on imports for its oil and has for decades tried to discover possible hydrocarbons resources both in the continent and offshore.