Fitch Ratings downgraded Brazil's sovereign debt further into junk territory on Thursday, citing a deeper-than-expected economic contraction and changing fiscal targets that have undermined credibility. The agency downgraded Brazil to BB from BB+ with a negative outlook a week before a Senate vote that is expected to lead to the suspension of unpopular leftist President Dilma Rousseff.
A former Brazilian finance minister and the current head of the nation's state economic and social development bank allegedly pressured big construction firms into making campaign donations for President Dilma Rousseff, a newspaper reported on Sunday. If it proves correct it would be the first concrete lead linking the Petrobras corruption with BNDES, long suspected by Brazilian prosecution.
A Brazilian government led by Vice-President Michel Temer would consider allowing foreign owners to acquire a controlling stake in local airlines, one of his closest aides revealed. Wellington Moreira Franco, a chief economic adviser for Temer and a former aviation minister, said relaxing the current limits on foreign ownership would help bolster competition in an industry suffering its worst crisis in decades.
Brazil's Supreme Court removed the speaker of the lower house of Congress on Thursday on charges of obstructing a corruption investigation, days before an impeachment process that he engineered was expected to oust President Dilma Rousseff.
The rapporteur of a Senate committee on impeachment issued a report Wednesday recommending that Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff be tried in the upper house for allegedly breaking budget laws.
Vice-president Michel Temer patiently preparing a coalition and a basic program if Dilma Rousseff is finally impeached said he will not be standing as a candidate for Presidency in 2018. Furthermore, he said he will support the proposal to end presidential re-election in Brazil.
A government led by Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer would press ahead with the country's corruption fight by strengthening anti-graft institutions and enacting tougher controls over state-run companies, and will also implement an education reform, according to a six chapter document leaked to the Sao Paulo media.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff concedes that even if the full Senate finally votes against her impeachment, she may be obliged to support the call for new presidential elections this year, according to Folha, one of Sao Paulo's most influential dailies.
Brazil’s Senate chose the 21 members of a commission that will recommend whether or not to move forward with impeachment proceedings against embattled President Dilma Rousseff. As was expected, the Senate picked a committee stacked with supporters of impeachment that will report back on whether to put Rousseff on trial. Only five of the committee’s 21 members have declared their support for the populist president.
A poll released on Monday showed Brazilians overwhelmingly favored the hypothetical resignation of both President Dilma Rousseff and her vice-president Michel Temer, followed by new presidential elections. Just over 60% of respondents said that scenario would be the best way out of the crisis, although no such solution is stipulated under Brazil’s Constitution.