Economy

• Tuesday, June 16th 2015 - 06:11 UTC

  Argentina's May official inflation 1% or half that claimed by private consultants

  

  Argentina's National Statistics and Census Institute, Indec reported on Monday that the inflation rate for May reached 1%, totaling 15.3% in the last twelve months and 5.7% for the first five months of 2015.

• Tuesday, June 16th 2015 - 06:03 UTC

  Brazil's auto industry faces plummeting sales and widespread layoffs

  

  Plummeting auto sales in Brazil amid the country's worst economic situation in a decade have battered the industry that makes up one-fourth of the country's industrial gross domestic product and has led to widespread layoffs and mandatory leaves.

• Tuesday, June 16th 2015 - 04:47 UTC

  Brazil's housing market falling as interest rates rise and the economy slows

  

  Brazil's housing market is now declining, amidst subdued economic growth and some civil unrest. In Sao Paulo, house prices dropped 1.2% during the year to Q1 2015, after annual price increases of 0.83% in Q4 2014, 3.29% in Q3 2014, 5.37% in Q2 2014 and 6.71% in Q1 2014

• Monday, June 15th 2015 - 06:44 UTC

  Catholic Church points out that 25% of Argentines are below the poverty line

  

  The Argentine Catholic Church has stood out strongly on the controversy that has followed President Cristina Fernandez statement before the FAO assembly in Rome arguing that poverty in Argentina is below 5%, which was later made superlative by her spokesperson and cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez arguing that poverty in Argentina was less than in Germany or Denmark.

• Saturday, June 13th 2015 - 07:59 UTC

  Rousseff and Lula da Silva try to convince the party to support austerity measures

  

  Brazil's embattled president Dilma Rousseff with the help of her political mentor. Lula da Silva managed on Thursday night to plea support from the ruling Workers Party, WP, delegates for drastic spending cuts designed to restore confidence in Latin America's largest but battered economy.

• Saturday, June 13th 2015 - 07:17 UTC

  Global share markets slump as Greece nears a default cliff

  

  Shares on European stock markets have fallen amid reports that senior EU officials have discussed a possible Greek default for the first time. The Athens stock exchange closed on Friday nearly 6% lower. Germany's Dax and France's Cac 40 ended more than 1% lower. Shares also fell in the US, with the Dow Jones index dropping 0.8%.

• Friday, June 12th 2015 - 06:33 UTC

  Argentina's CPI in May reached 2% and 28.7% in the last twelve months

  

  Argentina's Consumer price index, CPI, during May climbed 2% reaching 28,7% in the last twelve months, according to the Congressional monthly report from opposition lawmakers, which is an average of private consultants. The data was released on Thursday with strong words against President Cristina Fernández statements in Rome that poverty in Argentina was 5%, virtually less than Denmark and Germany.

• Friday, June 12th 2015 - 06:02 UTC

  World Bank forecasts Argentina will regain access to capital markets in 2017

  

  The World Bank is optimistic about the outlook for the Argentine economy, predicting the country’s GDP will grow 1.1% this year, a considerable upgrade from the decline of 0.3% it expected in January, and perhaps even stronger growth of 1.8% in 2016 and of 3% points in 2017, thanks to a “stronger” macroeconomic environment and “regained” access to international capital markets.

• Friday, June 12th 2015 - 05:05 UTC

  Rousseff denies being upset with Argentina over Mercosur and trade policies

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff stated on Thursday in Brussels she was not upset by differences with Argentina over the trade agreement Mercosur is to sign with the European Union, despite president Cristina Fernandez administration's cold feet on the issue.

• Friday, June 12th 2015 - 04:55 UTC

  “Isolated” mad cow case in Ireland; OIE had recently returned the “controlled risk status”

  

  Irish authorities have identified a suspected case of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or “mad cow disease”, on a dairy farm in County Louth, the first such case to be discovered in the country since 2013. The Irish Department of Agriculture said on Thursday the five-year-old diseased cow was discovered as part of ongoing inspections of animals that die on farms.