Petrobras is reading to announce a domestic fuel policy that will avert costly subsidies that drained profits during Brazil’s previous government, Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente said in an interview. For years fuel prices were manipulated as part of the government's policy to keep inflation under control.
Brazil's Lower House of Congress approved on Monday a document which is the base for a Proposed Constitutional Amendment (PEC) that would freeze federal spending for the next 20 years, a legislative priority for Michel Temer's government in 2016.
Brazil's lower chamber of Congress approved this week the main points of a bill removing a requirement that state-led oil company Petrobras be the sole operator of vast offshore oil reserves in the costly subsalt layer with a minimum 30% stake in their development.
Brazil's inflation continued its slow fall in September in a positive sign for the new government as it wrestles to end the worst recession in nearly a century. The 12 month rate fell to 8.48%, down from 8.97% August hitting its lowest level for the month since 1998.
Brazilian prosecutors said on Monday they had charged former President Lula da Silva and Marcelo Odebrecht, ex-CEO of engineering group Odebrecht SA, with corruption related to contracts in Angola.
Brazil’s Prosecutor-General’s Office questioned the constitutionality of President Michel Temer’s proposed public spending cap and recommended that Congress shelve the austerity measures. The office said in a statement the proposal interferes with the autonomy of other federal powers and would weaken the country’s judicial system, handicapping efforts to combat corruption.
Brazil's economy is expected to return to growth next year and with a decrease in the value of the dollar vis-a-vis the Real in recent months, the country is back on track to becoming the world's eighth largest GDP in 2017 according to the IMF. Since last year, Brazil has been ranked ninth (2 positions below its ranking in 2014) due to the recession that started at the end of 2014.
Brazilian central bank chief Ilan Goldfajn said policymakers have no set time frame to cut interest rates, even as industrial data suggested that Latin America's biggest economy may take longer than expected to emerge from recession.
The president of Brazil reiterated the support of his country to the legitimate rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty dispute with Great Britain relative to the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime spaces, reads point 45 of the 47-point Argentina-Brazil joint statement from 3 October, following Brazilian president Michel Temer's visit to Buenos Aires.
The World Trade Organization confirmed on appeal on Thursday its ruling partially in favor of Argentina in its dispute with the European Union over duties the bloc imposes on imported biodiesel.