Uruguay

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 18:34 UTC

  Mercosur to release members’ same criteria macro-economic data beginning June

  

  Beginning June, Mercosur full members will share macro-economic indicators elaborated with the same criteria and which will be released simultaneously, according to reports in the Montevideo press. The initiative was partly financed by the European Union that also played an advisory role.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 05:41 UTC

  IMF approves Uruguay’s performance but road ahead has many uncertainties

  

  Uruguay’s growth estimate for this year remains at 5% but is forecasted at 4.2% for 2012 with warnings on the economy’s over-heating, significant inflow of capital and inflation, according to the IMF World Economic Outlook released this week. In 2010 the Uruguayan economy expanded 8.5%.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 04:17 UTC

  Uruguay expands alternative energy capacity with a 50 MW wind turbine farm

  

  Uruguay continues to expand its alternative green energy capacity and the latest contract award will have 25 wind turbines which must be operational within a maximum period of three years. The wind power project of 50 MW will supply renewable energy to a population of 50,000 people.

• Monday, April 11th 2011 - 05:58 UTC

  Mujica strongly lobbies for Venezuela’s full incorporation to Mercosur

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica strongly supported the incorporation of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur from a Sunday column published in one of Brazil’s most influential newspapers, Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Saturday, April 9th 2011 - 00:21 UTC

  Vazquez denies saying the Kirchners had behaviour patterns recalling fascism

  

  Former Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez denied this week that he ever said that his Argentine counterparts Néstor and Cristina Kirchner are “fascists”, like Wikileaks cables stated.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 10:11 UTC

  Uruguay’s public debt to abandon foreign currencies for local Pesos

  

  Uruguay this year plans to swap part of its foreign-currency bonds for debt denominated in Pesos, said Economy Minister Fernando Lorenzo. Uruguay will also sell Peso securities and use the proceeds to pay off bonds denominated in other currencies, Lorenzo said without providing further details.

• Wednesday, April 6th 2011 - 01:39 UTC

  Uruguay’s March inflation soars 1.42% and 3.6% in the first quarter

  

  Uruguay consumer prices soared 1.42% in March, reaching 8.17% in the last twelve months and 3.6% in the first quarter, which is dangerously close to the twelve month government target of 3% to 7%, which theoretically should go down to 4% to 6% next June.

• Tuesday, April 5th 2011 - 10:11 UTC

  Uruguay has no plans to issue new debt: 2011 obligations comfortably covered

  

  Uruguay's economy minister said the country had no concrete plan to issue new debt because it had already covered 2011 obligations and debt servicing costs will fall in 2012. Nevertheless he complained about the “poor treatment” of Uruguay by the risk rating agencies.

• Monday, April 4th 2011 - 07:17 UTC

  Mujica promises businessmen economic policy to remain on course and reliable

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica ratified this weekend before 1.200 businesspeople that his administration will keep the course and ‘reliability’ of the current economic policy, although this will not impede “changes that may surface consequences of the moment”.

• Monday, April 4th 2011 - 07:08 UTC

  Source rock and possible shale oil discovered in the centre of Uruguay

  

  Uruguay state-run oil and gas company ANCAP announced the discovery of source rock which might contain underground shale oil or natural gas deposits.