Economy

• Sunday, January 11th 2015 - 11:39 UTC

  Rousseff orders ministries to cut spending by a third

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has instructed a budget cut which affects 39 ministries, reducing their funds by a third, in order to save a figure estimated at 703 million dollars per month.

• Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:49 UTC

  Caricom countries want to use Chinese credit to restructure debt

  

  Caribbean Community countries (Caricom) want to use the three billion US dollar concessionary facility announced by China last year for debt restructuring and refinancing among other initiatives, CARICOM Chairman Perry Christie has said.

• Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:44 UTC

  Argentina's comprehensive strategic (and vital) association with China

  

  Argentina and China entered a new phase of their relationship in July last year after upgrading it to a “comprehensive strategic association” and signing a battery of agreements, which include a 4.7 billion investment in hydroelectric dams, 2.09 billion in the renovation of the rail system and an 11 billion currency swap.

• Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:41 UTC

  China pledges 250bn in investments and 500bn in bilateral trade with Latam

  

  Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday 250 billion dollars in investment in Latin America over the next five years as part of a drive to boost resource-hungry China’s influence in the region.

• Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:28 UTC

  FAO Food Price index falls in 20014 on large cereals' supplies and record stocks

  

  FAO's monthly Food Price Index declined in December after three months of stability. Continued large supplies and record stocks combined with a stronger U.S. dollar and falling oil prices contributed to the decline, which helped bring the 2014 overall Food Price Index down 3.7%.

• Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:22 UTC

  Significance of China for Latam trade and investment underlined by Eclac

  

  The importance of forging closer strategic ties between China and Latin America was underlined by Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in her speech to the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean two-day ministerial forum that took place in Beijing.

• Friday, January 9th 2015 - 06:42 UTC

  Merkel said Germany wants Greece in the Euro-zone, but Athens must abide bailout terms

  

  Germany's Angela Merkel has played down the chances of a Greek exit from the Euro zone, but made clear she expected Athens to stick to the terms of its international bailouts after this month's election.

• Thursday, January 8th 2015 - 06:36 UTC

  Top five factors affecting oil prices in 2015

  

  As we ring in the New Year, let's take stock of where we are at with the oil markets. 2014 proved to be a momentous one for the oil markets, having seen prices cut in half in just six months.

• Thursday, January 8th 2015 - 06:28 UTC

  Euro zone inflation turns negative putting more pressure for ECB stimulus

  

  Inflation in the Euro-zone has turned negative, official figures have shown, with prices in December 0.2% lower than the same month a year earlier. The tip into deflation adds pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to take further action to stimulate the bloc's economy.

• Thursday, January 8th 2015 - 06:24 UTC

  Car sales in Brazil last year dropped 7.15% compared to 2013

  

  The sale of cars, commercial vehicles, trucks and buses in Brazil dropped 7.15% last year compared to 2013, and reached 3.498 million according to the Brazilian federation of car dealers, Fenabrave. It is the largest drop for the industry in twelve years and the second consecutive fall.