Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin met Friday with the European Commission's Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager to discuss the South American country's relations beyond the Mercosur deal, Agencia Brasil reported.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva Thursday told his Paraguayan colleague Mario Abdo Benítez about his intentions to reorganize Unasur and reinforce Mercosur's unity. Lula and Abdo met at the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant in Foz do Iguazú.
Argentina's Central Bank (BCRA) Thursday decided to raise the benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points to 78% annually, it was announced in Buenos Aires the day after the INDEC said the Consumer Price Index for the month of February ad grew 6.6% for a year-on-year inflation of 102.5 %, the highest in the last 32 years.
Anticipating the Euro area banking sector is resilient, with strong capital and liquidity positions, and that inflation is projected to remain too high for too long, the European Central Bank announced on Thursday that the ECB Governing Council decided to increase the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points, in line with its determination to ensure the timely return of inflation to the 2% medium-term target.
The price of a packet of cigarettes rose hours after the UK Budget was delivered in Parliament, while drinkers will see tax on alcohol go up by 10.1% in August, in line with inflation. According to London media, the only alcohol not to see a rise was draught beer where duty will be frozen. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said this was to help “the great British pub”.
Corporation Tax, paid on UK company profits, will rise next month, chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed to Parliament. It will go up from 19% to 25% for companies with over £250,000 in profits, Mr. Hunt told the Commons.
Argentina's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for February of 2023 was reported to stand at 6.6%, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec), which resulted in interannual inflation of 102.5%. In this scenario, Economy Ministry sources quoted by Buenos Aires media admitted the possibility of not meeting the 60% annual target outlined in the 2023 Budget.
The Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced that Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr is leading a review of the supervision and regulation of Silicon Valley Bank, in light of its failure. The review will be publicly released by May 1.
US President Joseph Biden said his country's banking system was safe in the aftermath of last week's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, a California financial giant specialized in the technology sector. Biden insisted Monday that Americans can trust that the banking system is safe, and said he would seek to move forward with stronger regulations.
Argentina's industrial output recorded a 6.3% interannual growth in January of 2023 and 9.6% against the same month of 2019, the Secretariat of Industry and Productive Development reported. It was the second-highest January, only surpassed by 2018. Against January 2022, the sectors that grew the most were Food and Beverages (+9.1%), Automotive (+24.8%), Metal Industries (+8.9%), and Metal Products (+15.2%).