Brazil

• Friday, July 24th 2015 - 10:39 UTC

  Brazilian currency and markets drop on latest fiscal savings goals

  

  Brazil's currency, the Real, tumbled on Thursday after the government announced it would slash its fiscal savings goals for this year and next, raising investor fears that the country may lose its investment-grade credit rating.

• Thursday, July 23rd 2015 - 08:52 UTC

  Brazil's recession expected to continue next year according to top bank

  

  Brazil's recession will extend into next year, hurting President Dilma Rousseff's efforts to shore up public finances and arrest a sharp increase in unemployment, Itau Unibanco's chief economist said in a report on Wednesday. Ilan Goldfajn forecasts a drop of 2.2% in 2015 and 0.2% in 2016, down from previous estimates for a decline of 1.7% in 2015 and an increase of 0.3% in 2016.

• Thursday, July 23rd 2015 - 08:02 UTC

  Brazil slashes fiscal savings' goals for 2015 and 2016 on plunging tax revenue

  

  Brazil dramatically lowered its fiscal savings goals for 2015 and 2016 on Wednesday due to plunging tax revenues, and announced new spending cuts to underscore its commitment to austerity. The government cut its primary surplus goal for this year to 8.7 billion reais ($2.70 billion), or 0.15% of GDP, from 66.3 billion reais, the equivalent of 1.1% of GDP, originally budgeted.

• Wednesday, July 22nd 2015 - 07:34 UTC

  Dilma almost KO: 84.6% don't believe she can handle the economy and 62.8% want her impeached

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's popularity slumped to a new low and support for her impeachment grew amid a deepening corruption scandal and a severe economic downturn, according to an opinion poll published on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, July 21st 2015 - 05:42 UTC

  Three Brazilian top executives convicted in relation with Petrobras corruption

  

  Three executives of Brazil's Camargo Correa group were convicted of money laundering, corruption and other charges, the first construction-industry executives to be sentenced in a giant price fixing and bribery scandal involving state-run oil company Petrobras.

• Monday, July 20th 2015 - 07:30 UTC

  Brazil's Levy warns that relaxing spending cuts will only extend the pain

  

  Brazil's Finance minister Joaquim Levy warned that any attempt to relax spending-reduction goals for this year would inevitably extend the duration of the current fiscal adjustment program. The statement was made on Sunday in a long interview with one of Brazil's leading dailies, Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Monday, July 20th 2015 - 07:17 UTC

  Petrobras working to match domestic and international fuel prices

  

  Brazil's Petrobras is working to bring domestic diesel and gasoline prices into parity with international levels in order to attract downstream buyers or partners. The oil and gas giant needs to sell assets to survive a combination of mounting debt, low oil prices and a giant corruption scandal.

• Saturday, July 18th 2015 - 08:10 UTC

  Rousseff, ever so weakened and isolated warns of “anti democratic adventures”

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff told regional peers on Friday there is no room for “anti-democratic adventures” in South America, a day after the speaker of Brazil's lower house said he was weighing legal arguments for her impeachment. Speaking to the heads of state of Mercosur, Rousseff said political leaders should strive for dialogue to resolve ideological differences.

• Friday, July 17th 2015 - 07:44 UTC

  The man who silenced Maracana in 1950 passes away with full honors

  

  “Only three people silenced Maracana: the Pope, Frank Sinatra and me”. The comment belongs to Alcides Ghiggia, Uruguay's last member and striker of the team that beat Brazil in the World Football Cup final of 1950 and thus winning the Jules Rimet Cup. It would be Uruguay's second world cup: the first in 1930 when it beat Argentina.

• Friday, July 17th 2015 - 04:48 UTC

  Brazil's corruption scandals reach Lula da Silva: probe into influence peddling

  

  Prosecutors in Brazil have announced a probe into possible influence peddling by former president Lula da Silva, involving the construction firm Odebrecht which is one of Latin America's largest engineering company. The investigation will center on Lula's alleged use of his clout after leaving office to help scandal-ridden construction giant Odebrecht land billion-dollar contracts in Latin America and Africa.