
Argentina’s international currency reserves rose above the landmark US$40 billion for the first time in three and a half years last Friday, as a huge inflow of dollars from government-issued debt and some exports over the last few days caused some dramatic increases this week. The milestone, according to Central Bank chief Federico Sturzenegger, was “a sign of growing investor confidence in the country.”

Uruguay is expecting some 150 cruise calls this coming season 2016/17 which begins next month and represents some 300.000 visitors, according to Tourism minister Liliam Kechichian who nevertheless admitted that growth prospects are somehow behind schedule because of the high costs of reaching and operating in the port of Buenos Aires.

Brazil's central bank cut its key interest rate for the first time in more than three years on Wednesday as a new center-right government's reforms fuel hopes of a recovery in Latin America's largest economy. The bank lowered the benchmark Selic rate by 0.25 points, to 14%, still one of the world's highest, and cited a dip in inflation and forecasts that a long recession -- Brazil's worst in a century -- is nearing its end.

A delegation from the UK embassy in Chile and a member from the Falklands Legislative Assembly met in Punta Arenas with the Magallanes region finance minister Christian Garcia to increase science and education cooperation links and promote people and economic exchanges. Many Chileans mainly from Punta Arenas have jobs in the Falklands.

Three Falkland Islands farmers and the general manager of Falklands Landholdings Corporation recently travelled to Australia as part of the ongoing search for improvements to lamb survival rates in the Falklands. Touring farms in both Queensland and New South Wales, the group spent three weeks inspecting Australian studs in search of better fat and muscle values in young rams.

“Is a monthly stopover in Argentina too high a price to pay for a direct weekly flight to Sao Paulo, the biggest flight hub in South America,” is the question we all have to ask ourselves, said lawmaker MLA Mike Summers this week as he set out the situation and options available to progress and develop the Falkland Islands’ economy.

The airline industry agreed on a framework for reducing its carbon footprint at a UN meeting in Montreal, the first commercial sector on its own to tackle climate change. Six years of negotiations culminated in what International Civil Aviation Organization president Azharuddin Abdul Rahman called a historic deal at the ICAO's plenary session to cap carbon-dioxide emissions by 2035 at 2020 levels.

The Falkland Islands government would claim 9% royalty on one barrel of oil, plus 26% corporation tax on profit, confirmed Member of Legislative Assembly Roger Edwards this week.

The Amaro family from Brazil, one of the main controllers of LATAM Airlines, sold a 6.47% stake in the regional carrier on Friday on the Santiago stock exchange for some US$296 million, as part of a strategy to modify the company's ownership structure.

Risks of a Chinese banking crisis are mounting, according to a warning indicator from the banking industry's global watchdog. A key gauge of stress in the banking sector is now more than three times above the danger level, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said in its latest quarterly review.