Economy

• Monday, January 18th 2016 - 05:52 UTC

  All negotiations with holdout funds will be made public, announced Argentina

  

  Argentina announced that all the details of the negotiation with the speculative funds, taking place in New York, will be made public in order to guarantee the transparency of the process. The news from the Finance Ministry dismissed reports that the holdouts were demanding the Argentine government sign a confidentiality agreement before talks can begin.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:58 UTC

  Venezuela in “economic emergency”: Q3 inflation 141.5% and GDP down 7.1%

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government has decreed a 60-day “economic emergency” for the recession-hit OPEC nation reeling from low oil prices and a sputtering state-led economic model. The government on Friday also published the first macroeconomic data for more than a year, showing GDP dropped in the third quarter while inflation surged.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:54 UTC

  Unemployment in Brazil during third quarter climbs to 9%

  

  Unemployment in Brazil rose to 9% in the August-October rolling quarter, up from 8.6% during the previous three months, the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, reported Friday. The jobless rate was 6.6% in August-October 2014.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:25 UTC

  Tight budgets are forcing many Brazilian cities to cancel Carnival celebrations

  

  Cities across Brazil are cancelling carnival celebrations as increasing economic woes hit Latin America's largest economy. Local governments are citing tightened budgets, with lower tax revenues and more important projects in need of funding.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:05 UTC

  St Helena and its new airport get ready for tourism take-off

  

  The Guardian Weekly has published a piece on prospects for St Helena with the opening of its international airport, most probably next May, and which is expected to turn the mid Atlantic's island economy, particularly with tourism, since none less that Napoleon Bonaparte spent his last years until his death, almost two centuries ago.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:00 UTC

  US Dept of Agriculture studying Brazil's success as an agricultural powerhouse

  

  Over the last 25 years, the US farmer has become increasingly aware of the impact of South American agricultural output on the global supply of grains and oilseeds. For example, in recent years Brazil has risen to the number one position as an exporter of soybeans.

• Friday, January 15th 2016 - 09:24 UTC

  Desperate for funds Rousseff offers amnesty to holders of undeclared offshore assets

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday signed a bill that gives amnesty to holders of undeclared offshore assets in exchange for a fine, part of efforts to cut a swelling budget gap and revive investment in the recession-hit economy. The law offers amnesty from prosecution to Brazilians if they bring unreported foreign funds home and pay a 30 percent fine in the form of tax.

• Friday, January 15th 2016 - 07:57 UTC

  Renault passes 'surprise VW emissions scam test', but impact is felt on shares

  

  Shares in French carmaker Renault plunged 20%, before recovering to close 10.3% lower, after police raids on the company's facilities. The firm confirmed the raids took place last week and said investigators wanted to check equipment at its factories.

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 06:54 UTC

  Argentina needs to reach an agreement with holdouts, insists Prat-Gay

  

  Argentina's new finance minister said on Wednesday it was imperative to resolve the country's legal dispute with U.S. creditors over unpaid debt because financing of the country's fiscal deficit this year may depend on progress on the issue.

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 06:42 UTC

  Argentina targets 25% inflation and fiscal deficit of 4.8% of GDP this year

  

  Argentina Finance Minister Alfonso Prat Gay revealed on Wednesday that the fiscal deficit registered in 2015 was of 5.8% of GDP and 7.1% of GDP is all debts are computed, and complained that “there has been wasteful spending and when there is an expense it’s not well done.”