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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, January 30th 2026 - 20:53 UTC

Economy

  • Monday, January 18th 2016 - 08:36 UTC

    Argentina new bills: Evita and Malvinas out, replaced by Andean deer and condor

    The 100-Peso bill with the image of Evita Peron, will be replaced by the image of a Taruca or Andean deer.

    Inflation plagued Argentina will be issuing higher denomination bills and at the same time will avoid politics and history, concentrating on images of autochthonous fauna in danger of extinction. This means that the latest bills issued, 100 and 50 Pesos, with the image of Evita Peron, and Falklands/Malvinas and the notorious Gaucho Rivero, should quickly become collection pieces.

  • Monday, January 18th 2016 - 08:15 UTC

    Petrobras increased pre-salt oil production by 56% during 2015

    Production from the highly promising pre-salt region, meanwhile, rose to an average of 767,000 bpd, up 56% from the previous year and a record high

    Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras said it increased its crude production last year by 4.6% relative to 2014, exceeding the target set forth in its business plan for the first time in 13 years. Oil output in 2015 amounted to an average of 2.128 million barrels per day (bpd), up 0.15% from the 2.125 million bpd forecast by the company.

  • Monday, January 18th 2016 - 08:11 UTC

    Rousseff admits a government bailout of indebted Petrobras is a serious option

    The government isn’t ruling out “evaluating” a bailout if oil prices remain weak, Ms. Rousseff said to reporters at the presidential palace

    Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff admitted that a government bailout for the country’s troubled state-controlled oil company Petrobras can’t be ruled out. The company is mired in financial troubles amid a deep decline of global oil prices and a sprawling corruption scandal involving several of its former executives and its largest suppliers.

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

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

    “Finance Secretary Luis Caputo told the mediator that any offer that will be made by Argentina will be done in public to guarantee the transparency of the process”

    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%

    The decree, read by new economy vice president Luis Salas and to be debated by parliament, did not mention any major policy changes such as a devaluation

    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%

    The unemployment figure translates to roughly 9 million people out of work, is based on data from the National Sample of Households Study, known as PNAD

    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

    Although Rio, Sao Paulo, Bahia make the spotlights, Carnival is celebrated in almost every Brazilian city, town and village

    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

    A view of Jamestown and the St Helena in the bay

    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

    In recent years Brazil has risen to the number one position as an exporter of soybeans.

    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

    The law offers amnesty from prosecution to Brazilians if they bring unreported foreign funds home and pay a 30% fine in the form of tax.

    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.