
Argentina is the Latin American country where the middle class has grown the most in ten years, doubling in size, according to a report released by the Pew Research Center in the United States.

Officials from the world's largest emerging nations launched on Tuesday the New Development Bank (NDB), the second of two new policy banks heavily backed by Beijing that are being pitched as alternatives to existing institutions such as the World Bank. Also known as the BRICS bank, it follows soon after the establishment of the China-led Asian Investment Infrastructure Bank (AIIB).

The US dollar kept climbing in Argentina and ended trading on Tuesday above the 15 Pesos threshold after having advanced 30 cents on Monday and 54 cents today. Sunday's electoral result in the City of Buenos Aires where the pro-business PRO party just managed to scrape by with victory, has triggered growing nervousness and speculation among savers and traders.

President Francois Hollande has said he would unveil emergency measures to help France’s livestock and dairy farmers on Wednesday. Tuesday’s announcement came as as livestock farmers caused chaos in the north west of France, using tractors and trucks full of manure and rubble to block roads.

The Falkland Islands government reacted strongly to statements by the Argentine official in charge of Malvinas affairs who claimed that the theft of squid and other valuable fish stocks in the South Atlantic, was the reason behind the success of the Islands' economy, according to a report from the Express.co.uk.

The International Monetary Fund has named as its new chief economist Maurice Obstfeld, an academic and White House economic adviser known for his work on money flows and international finance.

France favors a stronger organization behind the Euro led by a vanguard of countries, French President Francois Hollande said in an interview published Sunday. In the past week the European spirit prevailed in addressing the Greek crisis, he told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.

Banks in Greece expect long queues but no major problems when they reopen this Monday for the first time in three weeks, although withdrawals will still be limited and capital controls will remain, senior banking officials said on Sunday.

New Zealand dairy exporter Fonterra is cutting jobs in an effort to shore up its cash flows as a slump in global dairy demand, particularly from number one buyer China, threatens to snuff out the country’s “white gold rush.”

Brazil's Finance minister Joaquim Levy warned that any attempt to relax spending-reduction goals for this year would inevitably extend the duration of the current fiscal adjustment program. The statement was made on Sunday in a long interview with one of Brazil's leading dailies, Folha de Sao Paulo.