Economy

• Thursday, February 19th 2015 - 05:57 UTC

  Colombia's Ecopetrol slashes offshore exploration budget

  

  Colombia's state-run oil producer Ecopetrol will drill three offshore wells this year, two off its Caribbean Coast and a third in the Gulf of Mexico, after slashing its offshore exploration budget to 200 million dollars down from 632 million last year, the company said.

• Thursday, February 19th 2015 - 05:44 UTC

  HSBC Swiss office searched by Geneva prosectuor; second probe in a week

  

  Geneva's public prosecutor searched HSBC's lakeside Swiss office on Wednesday after opening a criminal inquiry into allegations of aggravated money laundering, the second probe to hit the bank this week.

• Thursday, February 19th 2015 - 05:23 UTC

  Levy tells US investors Brazil is on track to correct the fiscal slippage

  

  The government of President Dilma Rousseff is working to meet its primary budget surplus goal of 1.2% of GDP in 2015, pledged Finance minister Joaquim Levy on Wednesday to an audience of investors in New York.

• Wednesday, February 18th 2015 - 19:28 UTC

  Canada identifies origin of mad cow disease case; Korea bans Canadian beef

  

  The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association says a beef breeding cow found with mad cow disease on an Alberta farm was born in the province at a different farm. Association spokesman John Masswohl says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency identified the birth farm. It is the first case reported since 2011. South Korea announced it was banning Canadian beef.

• Wednesday, February 18th 2015 - 04:28 UTC

  Venezuela ready to address fuel prices: “piece of candy cannot cost more than a liter of gasoline”

  

  Venezuelan Finance minister Rodolfo Marco Torre announced that ”soon there will be important announcements on the issue of gasoline”, underlining that “a piece of candy cannot cost more than a liter of gasoline”.

• Wednesday, February 18th 2015 - 03:56 UTC

  Brazil's corn and soybean crops flattening out influenced by climate conditions

  

  Brazil's sowings of safrinha corn are to fall for the first time in seven years, Conab (National Supply Co.) said, cutting its forecast for the country's overall production of the grain, and lowering hopes for the soybean harvest too.

• Tuesday, February 17th 2015 - 19:30 UTC

  “EU tired of waiting” for Mercosur to sign a trade agreement; Paraguay a trusted partner

  

  The European Union is tired of waiting for Mercosur to sign a free trade agreement, according to a delegation of Euro members of Parliament visiting Paraguay, a country which they consider a trusted 'ally' in trying to establish closer links with Europe.

• Tuesday, February 17th 2015 - 05:13 UTC

  Brazil and Argentina agree accords signed with China will not affect Mercosur

  

  Brazilian foreign minister Mauro Vieira discarded that the recent agreements reached by Argentina with China can interfere with Mercosur, while his Argentine counterpart Hector Timerman said that the package of accords with Beijing will “actually benefit Mercosur”.

• Tuesday, February 17th 2015 - 04:16 UTC

  Argentina's January consumer inflation, make your pick: 1%, 2% or 2.08%

  

  Argentina's monthly inflation controversy again erupted with the official Indec figure for January marking 1,1% and 20.9% in the last twelve months, while the private consultants index, channeled through the so called Congressional index reached 2.08% and 35.21%.

• Monday, February 16th 2015 - 21:50 UTC

  Falklands begins consultation on oil impact on society and local culture

  

  Falkland Islands will this month begin to grapple with the big questions about how oil and gas development will impact on their society and culture. The start of a series of focus groups run as part of the Social Effects Monitoring Programme study, led by Regeneris Consulting, and Falkland Island partners Karen Lee and Carolyn Montgomerie, reports the Penguin News in its latest edition.