Uruguay

• Friday, September 17th 2010 - 03:21 UTC

  He had to borrow money for a bus ticket to collect a 2 million USD lottery prize

  

  A Uruguay construction worker had to borrow the equivalent of seven US dollars from a neighbour to get to work. It was Thursday morning and several turned up to loan him the requested money.

• Thursday, September 16th 2010 - 05:15 UTC

  Uruguayan economy expands 9.8% in first half over last year

  

  The Uruguayan economy continues to expand strongly having advanced 2.3% in the second quarter over the first quarter and 10.4% compared to a year ago and 9.8% over the fist half of 2009, according to the latest release from the Central Bank.

• Thursday, September 16th 2010 - 05:06 UTC

  USDA forecasts Uruguay’s beef exports will increase to 400.000 tons in 2011

  

  Uruguay’s beef exports may rise by 2.6% next year as demand recovers from the global recession, according to a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

• Tuesday, September 14th 2010 - 02:57 UTC

  Uruguay feels Mercosur is a diplomatic club, still too distant from the people

  

  Mercosur is currently a “Foreign Affairs ministries club” which has failed in getting people involved in the integration idea and process, said Uruguayan Foreign Secretary Luis Almagro during a press conference Monday at Government House.

• Saturday, September 11th 2010 - 18:39 UTC

  Uruguay’s definitive iron-ore feasibility project to be completed by mid-2011

  

  Swiss-based iron ore mining start-up Zamin Ferrous through its Brazilian affiliate is finishing the drilling stage of an iron-ore project in Valentines, Uruguay, and expects to complete its “definitive” feasibility study by mid-2011.

• Thursday, September 9th 2010 - 23:03 UTC

  FT describes Uruguay and Paraguay as “Latin America’s impressive little guys”

  

  Under the heading of “Latin America’s impressive little guys, Uruguay and Paraguay”, the Financial Times praises the two countries for “punching above their weight” and catching the attention of foreign corporate investors.

• Wednesday, September 8th 2010 - 04:53 UTC

  Argentina wants to stall Montevideo port as the efficient regional hub

  

  In spite of the good relations between the governments of Uruguay and Argentina following the agreement reached on pulp mills, pending and new issues are creeping into the bilateral agenda that could threaten the good chemistry between presidents Jose Mujica and Cristina Kirchner.

• Tuesday, September 7th 2010 - 08:08 UTC

  Reclaiming Investment Grade, key priority of the Uruguayan government

  

  Uruguay is resolutely on its way to reclaim the investment grade status it lost in 2002 according to Franco Uccelli an analyst with JP Morgan Chase. Uccelli says that growth continues to outperform expectations; infrastructure projects are set to take centre stage; fiscal consolidation is firmly underway; the public debt burden is poised to decline and no international bond issuance is planned for 2010. Fundamental support for the currency remains intact and a return to Investment Grade has become a key priority for the government.

• Tuesday, September 7th 2010 - 05:52 UTC

  Uruguay announces re-purchase of 500 million USD of sovereign debt

  

  The Uruguayan government announced that it authorized the repurchase of 500 million US dollars of sovereign debt with the purpose of optimizing its composition and the maturing timetable.

• Tuesday, September 7th 2010 - 05:50 UTC

  S&P raises Uruguay’s long term credit ratings to BB from BB-

  

  Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Uruguay to BB from BB- with a stable outlook thanks to the country's track record of sustained economic growth.