April 5th, 2012:

DEFICIT CLIMBS

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) raised its deficit forecast for this year to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP). It based this on a GDP of about $34 billion at the end of 2012 to meet with the Executive’s estimate that the deficit would be about $850 million.

SPENDING UP

Spending on advertising by businesses and government entities on promotion increased by 7.7% in 2011 compared to 2010. The cost was [...]