
Chilean president Sebastian Piñera signed this week a bill which grants a special ‘March-bonus’ to low-income families and is extensive to seven million people. Each beneficiary will receive the equivalent of 85 dollars which will represent for the Treasury an outlay of 208 million dollars.

Cargill Inc. and Bunge Ltd. are among grain exporters that allegedly owe the Argentine government 951 million dollars in taxes and won’t be eligible for a reduced interest rate under a payment plan unveiled by the government this week.

A US court in New York on Tuesday rejected Argentina's request for a full-court rehearing of an appeal it lodged as it struggles to shake off holders of 1.3 billion dollars in defaulted bonds.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will attend this week's BRICS summit of five emerging powers hosted by South Africa to discuss creation of their own development bank, the Planalto office announced.

The main group representing supermarkets in Brazil says it will no longer sell meat from cattle raised in the rainforest. The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets, which has 2,800 members, hopes the deal will cut down on the illegal use of rainforest for pasture.

Euro-zone finance ministers have agreed a deal on a 10bn-Euro bailout for Cyprus to prevent its banking system collapsing and keep the country in the Euro-zone. Asian financial markets rose in early trading on news of the deal.

Two of Uruguay’s President Jose Mujica closest ministers, Defence and Foreign Affairs said that the ‘British occupation’ of the Falkland Islands is ‘unacceptable’, represents a NATO base in the South Atlantic and described the recent referendum in the Islands as ‘absurd and ridiculous’.

The main creditor banks of the Galician multinational firm Pescanova, (which is under a probe from the Spanish stock market regulator), argue that the only way the firm can reorganize its financial situation is through the total or partial sale of its subsidiary in Chile by means of a Preventive Judicial Agreement.

By R. Viswanathan - India's trade with Brazil reached 10.6 billion dollars in 2012 (January to December), increasing by 15% from 9.2bn in 2011. Twenty years back, in 1992 bilateral trade was just 177 million dollars. Ten years back, in 2002, it was 1.2 billion dollars.
India's exports to Brazil declined in 2012 to 5.04bn from 6bn dollars in 2011.

Top officials from the Brazilian mining company Vale which suspended a 6 billion dollars potash development project in Argentina left the country for Sao Paulo last Friday following “on instructions from the security department” of the corporation, according to reports in the Brazilian press.