Uruguay

• Monday, February 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguay keeps consolidated budget deficit on target

  

  In spite of a surge in expenditure in the last quarter Uruguay managed to keep to its fiscal target in 2007 with a budget deficit equivalent to 0.34% of GDP, below the 0.5% established in the Central Bank financial program.

• Monday, January 28th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguay: Shellfish ban lifted in Maldonado and Rocha

  

  The National Directorate of Aquatic Resources (DINARA) on Friday lifted the ban on bivalve mollusc fishing, trade and transportation in the departments of Maldonado and Rocha after tests indicated the area was newly free of the red tide bloom.

• Wednesday, January 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Fossilized skull of largest rodent found in Uruguay

  

  The fossilized skull of the largest rodent ever recorded has been described by scientists for the first time. The remains of the one-ton beast, found in Uruguay, indicate that it would have been as big as a bull.

• Wednesday, January 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Toxic algae forces Uruguay to ban mollusk consumption

  

  Uruguay's Aquatic Resources Directorate (DINARA) on Tuesday extended for another ten days the ban on extraction, trade and transport of bivalve mollusks (mussels, cockles and clams) as the red tide continues to expand along the country's Atlantic coastline.

• Wednesday, January 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Aussie forfeited rogue longliner Viarsa broken up in India

  

  Famed, controversial fishing vessel Viarsa was dismantled in a Mumbai, India ship breaking yard last December, Australian authorities confirmed this week. The Uruguayan-flagged, 65-metre longliner had played a singular role as the subject of the longest pursuit in Australian maritime history.

• Sunday, January 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguay calls on Argentina to stop bridge blocking

  

  The Uruguayan government called on Argentina yesterday to “stop” demonstrators who have been blocking the General Artigas international bridge that connects the two countries.

• Saturday, January 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  A second pulp mill begins to break ground in Uruguay

  

  Spanish corporation ENCE begins next week to break ground in the south of Uruguay for the construction of a pulp mill with capacity for a million tons annually. The billion US dollars project is still in the blue print and environment impact assessment stage but the company and the Uruguayan government are confident of the results.

• Tuesday, January 8th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguay soybean area expands for eighth year running

  

  Soybeans has become the main summer cultivation in Uruguay for the agriculture year 2007/08, confirming eight years running of expansion according to the latest release from the country's Agriculture Statistics Office, DIEA.

• Monday, January 7th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  With 2009 in mind Uruguayan cabinet reshuffle expected

  

  Uruguayan Socialist president Tabare Vazquez is preparing a reshuffle of the ministerial cabinet which will include half of the posts, including those with the greatest political and financial weight, according to the government newspaper La Republica.

• Saturday, January 5th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguay's IPC in 2007 reached 8.5%, highest since 2003

  Uruguay's consumer prices index increased 0.3% in December totaling 8.5% in 2007, two full points above the Central Bank's target and the highest since the 10.2% of 2003, according to the country's Statistics Institute monthly report