Politics

• Thursday, February 17th 2011 - 03:51 UTC

  First major legislative victory for Rousseff: keeps minimum wage on target

  

  Brazil's Lower House approved Wednesday a government proposal to limit a minimum wage increase to 545 Real a month, handing President Dilma Rousseff her first major legislative victory.The proposal will be voted on in the Senate next week, where it is expected to be approved.

• Thursday, February 17th 2011 - 03:46 UTC

  First woman cop-chief for Rio do Janeiro 12.000 strong police force

  

  A woman has been named to head Brazil’s Rio do Janeiro police department for the first time following a corruption scandal that led to the arrest of more than 30 police and military officials, officials said Wednesday.

• Thursday, February 17th 2011 - 03:25 UTC

  Brazil as concerned with the US dollar as with China’s Yuan

  

  Brazil is as concerned about the decline of the U.S. dollar as it is about the Chinese currency and has no plans for a joint initiative with Washington to press China to let its currency appreciate faster, said Finance Minister Guido Mantega

• Thursday, February 17th 2011 - 02:45 UTC

  Seized cargo incident: US government “has no reason to apologize” to Argentina

  

  US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip Crowley assured that the US government “has no reason to apologize” to Argentina in the case of the “sensitive materials” that were seized in a US Air Force plane by the local government last week, amid accusations of “attempting to smuggle surveillance and communications equipment.”

• Thursday, February 17th 2011 - 01:58 UTC

  Brazil injects 27 billion USD to subsidized-loans development bank

  

  Brazilian state-run development bank BNDES will receive at least 45 billion Real or 27 billion US dollars from the government to extend its program of low-cost loans for supporting company investments in capital goods, local media reported this week.

• Thursday, February 17th 2011 - 01:18 UTC

  Argentina’s boost-industry import restrictions estimated in one billion US dollars

  

  Imports restrictions imposed this week by the Argentine government with the purpose of “preserving the re-industrialization process” cover approximately 200 products totalling annual imports of a billion US dollars, according to preliminary reports.

• Wednesday, February 16th 2011 - 22:53 UTC

  Mantega reiterates opposition to French plan for commodity prices regulation

  

  Brazil reiterated opposition to a French plan to impose regulation on commodity prices, saying it could have “negative effects” on major suppliers such as itself. “Brazil is totally opposed to a mechanism of control or regulation of commodity prices,” Finance Minister Guido Mantega told reporters, reiterating a position he gave last week.

• Wednesday, February 16th 2011 - 22:39 UTC

  Uruguay’s debt rated “positive” and edging on investment grade, says DBRS

  

  Canadian credit rating agency DBRS maintained Uruguay’s debt at BB (two steps below investment grade) but elevated prospect from stable to positive. The latest release from DBRS means Uruguay in the next 6 to 12 months could advance to one step below investment grade if “current fiscal discipline is sustained and levels of debt continue the descending trend”.

• Wednesday, February 16th 2011 - 22:34 UTC

  Trichet blames Euro-zone inflation spike on emerging economies rapid recovery

  

  The European Central Bank is not surrendering its price stability objective for crisis management policy, the bank's President Jean-Claude Trichet said. He also argued that the recent spike in Euro zone inflation is due to the current rapid economic recovery in emerging markets and not due to the currency bloc's sovereign debt crisis.

• Wednesday, February 16th 2011 - 22:30 UTC

  World’s largest mining company fearful of espionage from China and competitors

  

  Anglo Australian mining giant BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers confirmed reports that he is fearful of espionage from China, competitors like Rio Tinto and the Australian government, saying it is one reason why he lobbied furiously for short-term pricing of key commodities.