The latest Knight Frank’s Global Real Estate Index released this month has Brazil ranking No. 3 in the world and No. 1 in the Americas for rising home prices. Only ridiculously expensive Hong Kong and Dubai, which are not countries, have seen prices rise more. So in fact, no single country has seen its housing prices increase as much as Brazil.
The Brazilian economy is expected to grow 3.1% this year while inflation will reach 5.7% according to the latest estimates from the Central bank released in its “Quarterly inflation report”. In the previous report at the end of last year inflation was estimated at 4.8% but there was no figure for growth.
Brazil is after “brains and human capital” and a special Strategic Actions Secretariat (SAE) which depends directly from the Executive is working on a strategy to attract selective quality immigration according Ricardo Paes de Barros head of SAE interviewed by the Miami Herald.
The Brazilian government postponed until next year increases in taxes on the sale of cars and trucks in a bid to stimulate demand for manufactured goods and spur economic growth, announced the Finance Ministry.
Latinamerica’s largest power company Eletrobras, managed by the Brazilian government reported losses equivalent to 3.4bn dollars last year which were mostly attributed to a bill promoted by the administration of President Dilma Rousseff ro reduce electricity bills both for industry, agriculture and home consumption.
Germany is keen to boost its already substantial investment in Brazil ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio summer Olympics, the new president of the Brazil-Germany Chamber of Commerce said.
China and Brazil signed an agreement to do billions of dollars of trade in their local currencies, as the five-nation BRICS forum of emerging market powers work to lessen dependence on the US dollar and Euro.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff leads comfortably vote intention according to two public opinion polls published by leading newspapers, which indicate that she would have an easy win in the first round of the 2014 presidential election.
Pope Francis is scheduled to make his first official visit to Argentina, where he was born, next December ‘to be close to his fellow compatriots’, according to ecclesiastic sources in Buenos Aires. The visit in the first half of December could extend to neighbouring Uruguay and Chile.
A stadium in Brazil that was due to host athletics at the 2016 Olympics has been closed indefinitely because of structural problems with its roof. The Joao Havelange stadium in Rio de Janeiro was built only six years ago. It was also being used as the main football venue in Rio, while the city's Maracana stadium is being renovated for next year's World Cup.