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”.
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.
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.
Brazil's government will cut 4,2 billion Brazilian Real (approximately 2.4 billion USD) from its 15.17 billion defense budget this year under proposed fiscal tightening, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim announced this week.
Argentine Judge Ezequiel Berón de Astrada requested on Tuesday Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman; Security Minister Nilda Garré; and the US Embassy “all the information they have” on the incident regarding the US Air Force plane seized in Ezeiza international airport.
The Brazilian government confirmed on Tuesday that US President Barak Obama will make an official visit to Brazil on March 19 and 20.
Bolivia prepared to tap its record 10 billion US dollars in central bank reserves to help boost agricultural production and stockpile food staples as a hedge against a looming global “food crisis” Finance Minister Luis Arce said.
Argentina extended the application of LNA non-automatic licenses to a list of new imported products, which include metallurgical products, electronics, some fabrics, high-range automobiles, bicycles and bicycle parts.
The head of Río de Janeiro's state's civil police quit, becoming the latest victim of a drugs and corruption scandal that has shocked the police in Brazil's second city.
France's economy minister Tuesday urged IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn to stay at the global lender, as French conservatives sought to impede his potential bid for the French presidency next year.