Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva urged the ruling Workers' Party to back fiscal austerity measures in Congress, endorsing the efforts of Finance Minister Joaquim Levy to plug a gaping deficit. Members of Lula's party have opposed moves by Lula's protégée, President Dilma Rousseff, to cut public spending and social benefits as she strives to balance overdrawn accounts and restore investor confidence in Brazil.
The United Kingdom and Brazil reaffirmed on Friday their support for the success of the European Union/Mercosur Association agreement negotiations in the framework of the eighth meeting of the UK-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) which emphasizes bilateral cooperation and initiatives.
Unemployment in recession deep Brazil climbed to 8.7% of active population in the quarter ending last August, the government said Thursday. The indicator shows a steep hike from the 6.9% recorded in August 2014, according to statistics of the National Study of Households (PNAD), published by the state Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
Describing Brazil as a valued partner of Britain, and champion on climate change and tackling deforestation, Minister of State for Latin America, Hugo Swire, attended on Wednesday the Amazon Day 2015 at the Brazilian embassy where he also met with ministers Texeira, Levy and Coutinho who are in London for the first UK-Brazil economic and financial dialogue round.
Japan-based Mitsui has signed an agreement with Petrobras for partial acquisition of shares in the latter's natural gas distribution unit Petrobras Gás (Gaspetro) for about R$1.9bn ($489m).
Brazilian police on Monday raided the offices of a company belonging to a son of former president Lula da Silva as part of an investigation into tax fraud. The raid was part of a broader operation involving about 100 agents who descended on offices in the cities of Sao Paulo, Piaui and Maranho armed with arrest warrants and orders to seize documents and accounting records.
Brazil has given up on its goal of seeking a primary budget surplus this year and instead will record a massive shortfall as a deepening economic and political crisis drags on revenues, presidential chief of staff Jaques Wagner said on Thursday. Brazil's overall budget deficit has soared to 9% of GDP, according to estimates.
Brazil told Dutch SBM Offshore NV, the world's top oil production ship leaser, to agree soon to a $250 million bribery settlement if it wants to regain its biggest client in the world's largest oil-ship market, according to media reports from Brasilia and Sao Paulo.
Brazil's opposition filed a new impeachment petition against President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday, accusing her of illegal accounting practices. The much-anticipated petition, whose authors include a founder of Rousseff's Workers' Party, was handed over to congressional lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha.
Brazil's central bank kept interest rates on hold on Wednesday, for a second straight month despite a jump in inflation expectations. The decision not to raise rates will give a breather to President Dilma Rousseff, who is fighting for her political survival amid the country's worst economic and political crisis in 25 years.