Brazil

• Monday, May 9th 2016 - 09:17 UTC

  S&P raises Argentina's credit rating, but warns about the 40% inflation

  

  Argentina’s credit rating was raised to B- from selective default by S&P Global Ratings, which cited the country’s payment last Thursday of $2.7 billion of past-due interest on bonds in default since July 2014.

• Monday, May 9th 2016 - 09:04 UTC

  Brazilian prosecutors after another can of worms: the huge development bank

  

  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.

• Saturday, May 7th 2016 - 00:08 UTC

  A Temer government would allow full foreign control of Brazilian airlines

  

  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.

• Friday, May 6th 2016 - 08:22 UTC

  Brazil's Lower House speaker removed by the Supreme Court on justice obstruction

  

  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.

• Friday, May 6th 2016 - 08:07 UTC

  Folha exposes Rousseff's 'exit with dignity' next week and plans for a comeback strategy

  

  President Dilma Rousseff laid out the details last Monday for what she calls her “bunker of resistance”: a team of advisors to be installed in the Alvorada Palace next week. It will have a maximum of 15 members, according to a report to one of the main dailies, Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Thursday, May 5th 2016 - 11:27 UTC

  Petrobras sells stakes in Argentina and Chile, part of major divestment plan

  

  Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petrobras said it has concluded the sale of its 67.2% stake in Petrobras Argentina to Argentina’s Pampa Energía for US$ 892 million, according to a securities filing. Petrobras also sold all of Petrobras Chile Distribución to Southern Cross Group for about US$ 490 million as part of its divestment program, the company said.

• Thursday, May 5th 2016 - 07:30 UTC

  Senate impeachment committee votes on Friday on Rousseff's political future

  

  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.

• Wednesday, May 4th 2016 - 08:46 UTC

  Attorney General accuses Lula da Silva of a key role in Petrobras huge corruption scandal

  

  Brazil's Attorney General Rodrigo Janot has asked the Supreme Court to authorize an investigation against former President Lula da Silva for alleged corruption. Janot accused Lula of playing a key role in the huge corruption scandal at the state oil company, Petrobras.

• Wednesday, May 4th 2016 - 08:18 UTC

  Brazilian prosecution asks for investigation of opposition leader Senator Neves

  

  Brazil’s top prosecutor asked the Supreme Court to open an investigation into opposition Senator Aécio Neves, the country’s leading opposition figure, as the vast Petrobras corruption probe engulfed more politicians. Neves, who narrowly lost the 2014 presidential election to Dilma Rousseff, was previously included in a list of some 50 politicians thought to have taken bribes originating from state-run companies.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2016 - 06:54 UTC

  Brazil recession deepens, but prospects for 2017 seem much brighter

  

  Brazil’s recession is expected to deepen this year as economists brace for an even steeper contraction than in 2015. Economists have downgraded their 2016 outlook for Latin America’s largest economy for the 15th week in a row, according to the weekly Focus survey of about 100 economists by the Brazilian central bank.