Economy

• Monday, February 29th 2016 - 09:03 UTC

  G20: Beijing tailors generic final declaration with no specific mention to China's problems

  

  China pulled off a defensive win at the Shanghai Group of 20 (G20) meeting of global finance leaders after months of angst abroad over its economic and policy direction. For starters, there was no specific concern over China in the communiqué released late Saturday.

• Monday, February 29th 2016 - 07:28 UTC

  Praise for Argentina's economic reforms from US, China and Europe at G20

  

  Argentina received support for its economic reforms from the United States, China and Europe during the Finance ministers meeting held in Shanghai over the weekend in anticipation of the G20 heads of state and government summit next June, according to a release from the Argentine Finance ministry.

• Monday, February 29th 2016 - 07:18 UTC

  Francis wanted to understand how Macri was going to address eliminating poverty

  

  It was a 'good, enriching' meeting, a private conversation between the Holy Father and the president “which covered all the areas we expected to cover”, was how the Argentine foreign minister described Saturday's 22 minutes meeting between Francis and visiting President Mauricio Macri.

• Friday, February 26th 2016 - 11:02 UTC

  Brazil's Vale reports record losses; puts prime assets on sale to lower debt

  

  Brazilian miner Vale SA put its prime assets on the block on Thursday after taking the biggest loss in decades, but analysts said the target to make $10 billion in 18 months was unrealistic and expressed concern a fire sale could destroy equity value.

• Friday, February 26th 2016 - 07:49 UTC

  IMF warns global economy has weakened and is highly vulnerable to adverse shocks

  

  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the global economy has weakened further and warned it was “highly vulnerable to adverse shocks” and the weakening has come “amid increasing financial turbulence and falling asset prices”.

• Friday, February 26th 2016 - 07:46 UTC

  French farmers furious with low prices and storm shops selling foreign goods

  

  French government has been trying to defuse the week-long protests by farmers over the collapsing prices of agriculture including cereals, milk and vegetables.The depression of prices is partly due to EU agriculture ministers, who have come under pressure from the French government to ease Russian trade sanctions and to remove excess meat and dairy products off the European market.

• Friday, February 26th 2016 - 01:36 UTC

  “Falklands people voice must be heard”, says Uruguayan former president visiting the Islands

  

  Luis Alberto Lacalle, the Ex-President of Uruguay, is currently in the Falkland Islands on a week-long tour, along with Uruguayan Elected Representative Mario Jaime Trobo. Lacalle served as President from 1990 to 1995 and Trobo is presently a Member of the International Affairs Committee.

• Thursday, February 25th 2016 - 06:57 UTC

  Hollande/Macri 'personal link' “will make things get moving and get done”

  

  The visit of French president Francois Hollande was described as “most positive” and this was reflected in the over twenty bilateral agreements signed in all fields, plus a very significant 'personal link' with his Argentine peer Mauricio Macri, said Susana Malcorra, foreign minister on Wednesday at the Casa Rosada.

• Thursday, February 25th 2016 - 06:50 UTC

  Moody's downgrades Brazil's sovereign debt to 'junk territory'

  

  Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday joined the two other major credit rating agencies in downgrading Brazil's sovereign debt to junk territory. Moody's lowered Brazil's credit rating by two notches from Baa3 (its lowest investment-grade rating) to Ba2 and changed the country's outlook to “negative,” a move that follows similar actions by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's.

• Thursday, February 25th 2016 - 06:27 UTC

  Hollande extends full support for Macri: “France is ready to back you”

  

  Argentina's President Mauricio Macri received fresh endorsement of his economic measures on Wednesday when French President Francois Hollande flew in to Buenos Aires with 30 business leaders looking for investment opportunities. The visit reflected a turnaround in Argentina's global profile since Macri took power two months ago and immediately set about mending diplomatic ties and his country's tattered credit ratings.