Economy

• Friday, March 11th 2016 - 05:18 UTC

  Brazil's Odebrecht network of alleged bribery practices investigated in several Latin American countries

  

  Argentina is investigating whether the local unit of Brazil's Odebrecht paid bribes to government officials, an Argentine prosecutor said this week, deepening the regional fallout from the biggest corruption scandal in Brazil’s history.

• Thursday, March 10th 2016 - 05:18 UTC

  Argentine construction chamber admits 54.000 jobs losses in a “complicated transition”

  

  Argentina's Construction Chamber president Juan Chediack said 54,000 jobs have been lost in the sector since December. In statements to a local radio, Chediack pointed out the drop in construction jobs was a result of two factors: ”2015 fiscal deficit that provoked the nonpayment of works, and high inflation that pretty much stopped private developments, which are important job engines.”

• Thursday, March 10th 2016 - 03:42 UTC

  Brussels is waiting for Macri to renew relations, says top EU foreign affairs official

  

  President Mauricio Macri has been invited to the European Union and “we are working so that when he arrives we will have several announcements to make and issues to materialize” said Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra after meeting in Buenos Aires with Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for foreign affairs.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2016 - 07:24 UTC

  As of next May first, 90% of Pacific Alliance trade will be free of tariffs

  

  The Pacific Alliance Additional Protocol becomes effective next May first, which means 90% of trade between Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico will be free of tariffs, while the remaining will be subject to gradual tariff liberation chronogram, according to Andres Rebolledo, head of Chile's International Economic Relations Department, Direcon.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2016 - 07:13 UTC

  Pacific Alliance four members committed “to solid and orderly public finances”

  

  Pacific Alliance members' commitment to maintaining solid and orderly public finances, in a changing global economic environment is crucial to continue to attract investments, said Chile's Finance minister Rodrigo Valdes currently in New York with his peers from Peru, Colombia and Mexico, to promote the region.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2016 - 05:35 UTC

  Argentine Lower House clears the way for a floor discussion of accord with holdouts

  

  After rough discussions, Argentina's Lower House committees on Tuesday managed to clear the holdouts bill for debate with changes proposed by the allied Renewal Front and criticism from Victory Front lawmakers.The bill will reach the floor next week. If it passes, it will then be up for debate in the Senate, where the situation is similar, with the ruling Let’s Change needing help from opposition lawmakers to ensure the bill passes.

• Tuesday, March 8th 2016 - 12:38 UTC

  Algae bloom in southern Chile causing massive losses in the salmon farms

  

  A group of salmon farms operating in the south of Chile have reported the mass death of millions of salmon. The deaths are attributed to an outbreak of harmful algae, set to generate millions in financial losses and see supermarket prices soar across Chile.

• Tuesday, March 8th 2016 - 08:24 UTC

  Germany warns Brexit would damage UK, European and global economies

  

  British vote to leave the European Union would damage the British, European and global economies, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said in an interview with the BBC

• Tuesday, March 8th 2016 - 08:03 UTC

  Brazil expected to contract 3.5% this year, says Central Bank survey

  

  Analysts expect Brazil's economy to contract by 3.5% this year, the Central Bank said Monday. Private sector economists, who expected the GDP to contract by 3.45% in the previous weekly survey, also raised their inflation projection from 7.57% to 7.59%.

• Tuesday, March 8th 2016 - 07:58 UTC

  South Africa's Comair ready to operate from St Helena's airport with a Boeing 737/800

  

  South African airline Comair will operate the Boeing 737-800, configured to seat about 120 passengers, on the route from the St Helena Island’s airport to Johannesburg. A British Overseas Territory, St Helena is a remote South Atlantic island, where French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was once exiled and died after his defeat at Waterloo.