Economy

• Monday, November 30th 2015 - 07:51 UTC

  EU hopes Macri's election will give new impetus to trade talks with Mercosur

  

  The European Union said it hopes the election of a centre-right government in Argentina will give new impetus to stalled talks on a free trade pact with Mercosur, the Latin American bloc.

• Friday, November 27th 2015 - 15:22 UTC

  Oil jobs lost: 250.000 and counting, Texas likely to see massive layoffs soon

  

  Crude oil just capped off a third straight week of declines, as WTI nears the $40 per barrel threshold. Goldman Sachs is once again raising the possibility of oil dipping into the $20s per barrel. That spells more pain for the energy sector. Many companies have already slashed spending and culled their payrolls, but the total number of job losses continues to climb.

• Friday, November 27th 2015 - 07:55 UTC

  Brazilian banks follow closely events in Argentina: Dollar at 12 Pesos

  

  Brazilian banks which follow closely events in Argentina and prospects of the new government under president Mauricio Macri, believe the official exchange rate of 9.67 Pesos to the dollar will inevitably have to be devalued, to 12 Pesos by the end of the year, which means a 24% depreciation.

• Friday, November 27th 2015 - 07:43 UTC

  US gaining influence in Caricom: signs US$ 165m in development assistance

  

  The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) signed in Guyana, this week, agreements that will see countries of the eastern and southern Caribbean benefiting from US$165 million in development assistance.

• Thursday, November 26th 2015 - 16:57 UTC

  In a split vote, Brazil's central bank leaves Selic rate unchanged; pressure for an increase

  

  Brazil's central bank kept interest rates on hold for the third straight meeting on Wednesday in a split vote that shows policymakers are uneasy about inflation, a worsening recession which might lead to a raise in rates early in 2016.

• Thursday, November 26th 2015 - 08:23 UTC

  Brazil in shock: a leading senator and billionaire fund manager arrested for obstructing justice

  

  Brazil is in shock following the arrest by police on Wednesday of a senior ruling-party senator and a billionaire investment banker in the intensifying probe of a huge corruption network centered on state oil giant Petrobras.

• Thursday, November 26th 2015 - 08:18 UTC

  Poor report on Rousseff's performance from Brazil's central bank forecast

  

  Analysts expect Brazil's economy to contract by 3.15% this year and 2.01% in 2016, the Central Bank reported. The gross domestic product (GDP) estimate comes from the Boletin Focus, a weekly Central Bank survey of analysts from about 100 private financial institutions on the state of the national economy.

• Wednesday, November 25th 2015 - 08:33 UTC

  Commodities prices hovering at 13-year lows; metals suffered the most

  

  Commodities hit 13-year lows on Monday as metals markets crashed but a steady close in oil and higher grains markets helped a key sector benchmark settle off the day's trough. Copper and nickel prices fell to multi-year lows, forcing the Thomson Reuters/Core Commodity CRB Index to its lowest levels since November 2002.

• Wednesday, November 25th 2015 - 08:22 UTC

  Mercosur ready to begin political negotiations for the trade agreement with the European Union

  

  Mercosur is only waiting for the European Union to begin the political negotiations on the long delayed overall trade agreement, announced Paraguay's foreign minister Eladio Loizaga in Asunción, just back from Brussels where he met with EU and Belgian officials.

• Wednesday, November 25th 2015 - 00:02 UTC

  Falklands' oil industry re-spuds Isobel Deep reservoir

  

  Falkland Oil and Gas Limited, FOGL, one of several international companies involved in the Falklands' oil industry, announced on Monday that the 14/20 Isobel 2 well was spudded by Premier Oil as operator on Saturday, 21 November.