Germany and Argentina voiced hopes Thursday for a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur as German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Buenos Aires. In talks with Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Merkel discussed bilateral commerce and efforts to strike a deal with the Mercosur grouping of South American countries.
Argentina and UK agreed to begin implementing in August/September the trade and investment chapters included in the in Memorandum of Understanding signed last March in Buenos Aires. Argentine Production minister Francisco Cabrera is currently in London for a round of business talks with the private sector but also met Trade and Investment minister Greg Hands to continue advancing with the MoU.
The Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS says it has sold its units Mercosur members, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to companies controlled by a rival meat processing company in Brazil. JBS said in a Tuesday securities filing that it sold meat processing plants in the three countries for US$300 million to Minerva in Sao Paulo state.
Argentina formally inaugurated the Vega Pleyade gas and condensate deposit off the coast of Tierra del Fuego considered the most austral of its kind in the world, and which has been supplying the country with nine million cubic meters daily since February 2016. The well is operated by French Total (37.5%) together with Wintershall Energy (37.5%) and Panamerican South (25%), demanded an investment of 1.1bn dollars over three years.
Japanese investment bank has admitted it was part of a controversial deal with Goldman Sachs to buy Venezuelan government bonds. Nomura Securities said it also bought about US$100m worth of the bonds last week, according to Reuters reports. Goldman Sachs has faced fierce criticism for its purchase of $2.8bn worth of similar bonds.
Falklands' Acting Governor Alex Mitham looks back on the past year of activity for the Falkland Islands Government. The ceremony took place on Tuesday morning at the Court and Assembly Chambers during the Budget meeting of the Legislative Assembly
Brazil's economy is clearly growing again after a severe recession and will be shielded from a political crisis by widespread support for the government's reform agenda, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said, despite the fact Moody's on Friday announced it was lowering the country's credit outlook.
China has received a downgrade on its credit score, on worries about the future state of the economy. Moody's Investors Services brought down China's long-term local currency and foreign currency issuer ratings by one notch to Aa3 from A1, a move that could lead to a rise in the cost of borrowing for the Chinese government and state-owned enterprises. The ratings agency also changed its outlook for China to stable from negative.
The United States debt level reached a record high this year, surpassing the peak touched just as the worst of the recession was taking hold in 2008, and marking a milestone for households that now lean less on mortgages and more on auto and student loans
Scotland won a record number of investments from overseas in 2016, although growth was substantially lower than the previous year. There were 122 foreign direct investment deals done over the course of last year, up from 119 in 2015.