Economy

• Monday, March 16th 2015 - 10:25 UTC

  UK caught on the wrong side in a US/Beijing dispute over Chinese development bank

  

  The US has expressed concern over the UK's bid to become a founding member of a Chinese-backed development bank. The UK is the first big Western economy to apply for membership of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) despite the fact that US has raised questions over the bank's commitment to international standards on governance.

• Sunday, March 15th 2015 - 02:33 UTC

  Argentina will keep to its monetary policy despite a 20% devaluation of the Brazilian Real

  

  Argentina’s central bank governor Alejandro Vanoli said that despite the continued erosion of the Brazilian currency against the US dollar, which ended the week trading at 3.28 Real to the greenback, monetary policy will continue to manage the foreign exchange to avoid volatility and ensure economic growth.

• Sunday, March 15th 2015 - 00:54 UTC

  Argentina blasts Judge Griesa ruling blocking Citigroup from paying bonds issued under local law

  

  A release from the Argentine Economy Ministry considered US Judge Thomas Griesa's ruling issued on Thursday “a shameful excess of jurisdiction”. Judge Griesa blocked Citigroup Inc from processing interest payments by Argentina on some bonds issued under the country's law.

• Friday, March 13th 2015 - 13:06 UTC

  Santander and Deutsche banks fail a US Fed Reserve “stress test”

  

  Spain's Santander and Deutsche Bank have failed a US “stress test” designed to assess whether lenders can withstand another financial crisis. The review, carried out by the Federal Reserve, gauges whether the biggest banks operating in the US have the “ability to lend to households and businesses even in times of stress”.

• Friday, March 13th 2015 - 12:03 UTC

  Brazil's Levy says austerity measures are more important than a weak currency

  

  Brazil's economic growth depends more on the approval of austerity measures needed to rebuild investor confidence than on a weaker currency, Finance Minister Joaquim Levy told O Globo newspaper.

• Friday, March 13th 2015 - 11:53 UTC

  Brazil's economic difficulties are cyclical argues President Rousseff

  

  President Dilma Rousseff said here Thursday that Brazil's economic woes are cyclical in nature that the austerity measures her administration has adopted to rectify the situation will begin to bear fruit late this year.

• Friday, March 13th 2015 - 11:28 UTC

  Brazil central bank admits interest policy has not been effective in fighting inflation

  

  Brazil's Central Bank appears likely to continue raising interest rates in the short-term, saying in its most recent meeting that its inflation-fighting effort in recent months has been insufficiently effective. The view was reflected in the minutes, published on Thursday, of its monetary policy committee's March 4 meeting, when the bank raised its benchmark Selic interest rate by 50 basis points to 12.75%.

• Friday, March 13th 2015 - 11:18 UTC

  Griesa blocks Citigroup from paying interest on Argentine bonds; group will appeal

  

  A United States federal judge on Thursday said Citigroup Inc cannot process interest payments by Argentina on some bonds issued under that country's law. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan said letting Citigroup process the payments on so-called dollar-denominated exchange bonds would violate a requirement that Argentina treat bondholders equally.

• Thursday, March 12th 2015 - 11:45 UTC

  Everyone is guessing when it comes to oil prices

  

  Predicting and diagnosing the trajectory of oil prices has become something of a cottage industry in the past year. But along with all of the excess crude flowing from the oil patch, there is also an abundance of market indicators that while important, tend to produce a lot of noise that makes any accurate estimate nearly impossible.

• Thursday, March 12th 2015 - 01:11 UTC

  Bank of England contrary to further cut interest rates to combat low inflation

  

  Bank of England governor Mark Carney said it would be “extremely foolish” for the Bank of England to cut interest rates to try to combat low inflation. He reiterated comments made in February that the drop in prices was temporary and largely caused by the sharp fall in oil prices.