Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday with his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff at the Siberian city of Ufa, where the Brics group summit is taking place. Previously, Putin had met with president Xi Jinping (China); Jacob Zuma (South Africa) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the five countries that make up the group.
By Gwynne Dyer - ”The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable”, said John Kenneth Galbraith, the wisest American economist of his generation. (“A paltry honor,” he would have murmured.)
The credibility of the United States is at risk if Congress fails to approve International Monetary Fund quota and governance reforms, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned on Tuesday. For more than two years the US Congress has prevented the 2010 IMF reforms from taking effect.
The leaders of the group of five BRICS emerging market countries signed on Tuesday a deal to create a new development bank and an emergency reserve fund, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff announced at a summit of the group in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza.
Argentina was formally invited to take part in a BRICS summit to be held in Brazil next month. The Kremlin also ratified support to Buenos Aires in its long-standing dispute with the UK over the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands.
India, Brazil and South Africa are interested in having Argentina join the BRICS group of emerging economies which also includes Russia and China, according to Indian ambassador in Buenos Aires Amarenda Khatua in an interview with Clarin.
The UN resolution condemning the annexation of Crimea by Russia which was voted on Thursday at the general assembly showed Latin America (and Mercosur) divided on the issue. The non binding resolution sponsored by Costa Rica and the western powers received 100 votes, with 11 against and 58 abstentions.
Argentina's ambassador to South Africa, Carlos Sersale di Cerisano, has criticized South African Airways’ (SAA’s) move to end its service to Buenos Aires as a political decision not based on commercial criteria. SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali said the airline was cutting long-haul routes from its network as part of a turnaround strategy to restore profitability. Cutting the route between Argentina and South Africa had to be seen in that context.
Brazil is pushing ahead with a planned one billion dollars purchase of anti-aircraft missile batteries from Russia in a deal that will cement a strategic defence partnership between the two BRICS nations, the Brazilian Defence Ministry said.
The International Monetary Fund trimmed its global growth forecast for the fifth time since early last year due to a slowdown in emerging economies and the woes in recession-struck Europe. In its mid-year health check of the world economy, IMF also warned global growth could slow further if the pull-back from massive monetary stimulus in the United States triggers reversals in capital flows and crimps growth in developing countries.