The Swiss National Bank surprised markets by cutting its key interest rate target by 0.25 percentage points, citing growing economic uncertainty amid sharp plunges in global equity markets and a reduced risk of inflation.

CNN: European markets routed

First, the National Development Bank (BNDES), whose loans cost about half the Selic rate, has expanded its lending by almost half.

ECONOMIST: Brazil's booming economy

PDVSA, the national monopoly, ensured an overvalued exchange rate and financed a spendthrift and corrupt state and irresponsible bank lending, simultaneously stifling private enterprise.

ECONOMIST: Chavez’s muddled new world | The

The Bank's report came on the day that the Office for National Statistics said that the UK unemployment rate fell to 7.8% in the July-September quarter, down from 8% in the previous three months.

BBC: Bank of England cuts UK growth forecast for 2013