Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, November 5th 2025 - 11:26 UTC

Economy

  • Friday, May 1st 2015 - 06:44 UTC

    Leading Argentine economist says that we must admit “IMF is incorrigible”

    “What the IMF says has to be taken as information and have the prudence to not owe nothing to them,” said economist Ferrer

    Economist Aldo Ferrer has said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was “incorrigible”, questioning the report the multilateral credit organism released this week saying Argentina should devalue on its peso currency and carry out austerity policies to get back on the track of growth.

  • Friday, May 1st 2015 - 06:22 UTC

    Euro zone scrapes out of deflation in April; unemployment remains above 11%

    Energy prices in the Euro zone fell by 5.8% in April - a slightly slower pace than the 6% decline recorded in March.

    Consumer prices in the Euro zone scraped out of deflation in April after four months, official data has shown, boosting hopes of economic recovery in Europe. The inflation rate in the 19 nations that use the Euro stood at 0% in April, up from a rate of -0.1% in March. Eurostat said that low energy costs were continuing to cut living costs.

  • Thursday, April 30th 2015 - 07:52 UTC

    Brazil raises basic rate 50 points to 13.25%, highest since December 2008

    The Brazilian central bank gave no clear indication it is ready to stop the rate-hiking cycle just yet.

    As was anticipated and in line with the current anti-inflation policy, Brazil's central bank on Wednesday evening announced the increase of the basic Selic interest rate another 50 points to 13.25% from 12.75%. The decision from the nine-member Monetary Committee was unanimous, according to the official release.

  • Thursday, April 30th 2015 - 01:51 UTC

    US economy slows down to 0.2% growth in the first quarter, but forecast is optimistic

    The strength of the dollar also hurt exports, which fell by 7.2%. A strike by dock workers at normally busy West Coast ports also hindered growth.

    The US economy “all but stagnated” in the first three months of the year, growing at an annual rate of just 0.2%, official figures show. The growth figure was far lower than expectations, which had forecast growth would be about 1%. Harsh winter weather for a second year dampened consumer spending, while energy companies struggling with low oil prices cut investment.

  • Thursday, April 30th 2015 - 01:24 UTC

    Fed leaves interest rate at record low following two-day meeting

    Sluggish growth figures suggest that rate rise will not occur at the Fed's June meeting. Many analysts are now eyeing September instead.

    The US Federal Reserve has kept its target interest rate at a record low at the end of a two-day policy meeting in Washington, DC. The US central bank has indicated it will raise rates soon, as long as the US economy continued to grow, but the timing of the increase remains uncertain.

  • Thursday, April 30th 2015 - 01:12 UTC

    IMF insists with gloomy forecasts for Argentina's economy this year and 2016

    “Argentina maintained significant financial imbalances, following an extended period of fiscal expansion”, the IMF claims.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has repeated its forecast of a 0.3% drop in Argentine GDP over the course of 2015, while recommending a devaluation of the Peso and austerity measures in order to stimulate growth in the economy.

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2015 - 22:48 UTC

    Uruguay insists Mercosur must achieve “a free trade zone which effectively works”

    “To have Mercosur members 'sincere themselves', means complying with free movement of goods, services and production factors”, said Nin Novoa

    Uruguay again complained about the current stalled situation of Mercosur and called for members to 'sincere' themselves regarding the compliance of the original 1991 founding charter, and hopefully “we can at least reach the first stage of the chronogram: a free trade zone which effectively works and has not to bear the brunt of hurdles”.

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2015 - 09:22 UTC

    Argentine central bank increases reserves to highest level since November 2013

    “Today the Central Bank purchased a record figure in the exchange market. International reserves keep going up” said central bank chairman Vanoli

    Argentina's central bank bought 630 million of dollars on the local currency market on Tuesday in one of its largest-ever purchases, a move that will bolster the country's precariously low hard currency reserves. Some 500 million of the dollars purchased were proceeds from last week's 1.5 billion auction of bonds by state energy company YPF.

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2015 - 08:07 UTC

    The end of the BRICS

    Brazil hasn’t even overtaken Britain by 2050, despite having three times as many people. And Russia's economy barely doubles in the next 35 years

    By Gwynne Dyer - ”The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable”, said John Kenneth Galbraith, the wisest American economist of his generation. (“A paltry honor,” he would have murmured.)

  • Tuesday, April 28th 2015 - 05:44 UTC

    Brazil's economy expected to further contract and inflation to reach 8.25%

    As to growth Focus expects a 1.1% contraction, compared to the 1.03% estimate released last week, the worst performance by Brazil’s economy since 1990.

    Analysts have reviewed negatively Brazil's 2015 inflation and growth forecasts, according to the latest Focus report from the Central Bank, released on Monday. The survey which includes 100 analysts from private financial institutions on the state of the economy anticipates inflation of 8.25% and 1.1% contraction of GDP by the end of the year.