Brazil

• Sunday, August 30th 2015 - 13:58 UTC

  Brazil in recession: worst slowdown in nearly three decades

  

  Brazil's economy shrank 1.9% in the second quarter, sinking into a recession that has hammered President Dilma Rousseff's popularity. The quarterly contraction, reported by government statistics agency IBGE on Friday, was bigger than what markets expected and confirms the worst slowdown for Brazil in nearly three decades.

• Sunday, August 30th 2015 - 13:44 UTC

  Brazil wants to revive financial transaction tax to increase revenue

  

  The Brazilian government is considering reviving a financial transaction tax known as CPMF in a bid to shore up its finances in 2016, but the initiative apparently does not have sufficient support in Congress and President Dilma Rousseff's main coalition ally, PMDB, is not willing to make the presentation.

• Saturday, August 29th 2015 - 05:36 UTC

  Brazilian Senate confirms Petrobras investigation case Prosecutor

  

  Brazil's Senate confirmed the reappointment of Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot, who is leading a massive corruption investigation that has put dozens of politicians under scrutiny for allegedly receiving kickbacks.

• Saturday, August 29th 2015 - 05:25 UTC

  'If necessary', Lula da Silva will be in the 2018 president election

  

  Former two-term President Lula da Silva acknowledged Friday that he is weighing the possibility of seeking to return to Brazil's highest office in the 2018 elections. ”I can't say that I am or that I'm not (a candidate),” Lula said during an interview with Radio Itatiaia.

• Friday, August 28th 2015 - 07:22 UTC

  Brazil/EU summit next year following exchange of proposals with Mercosur

  

  Brazil and the European Union agreed to hold their annual summit during the first half of 2016, following the exchange of proposals for a wide ranging and cooperation trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur.

• Friday, August 28th 2015 - 05:32 UTC

  Lula da Silva seems to have lost his invincible electoral allure, opinion polls show

  

  Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva, if he decided to run again in 2018 as his Workers Party insists, would lose the presidential contest against any of three potential candidates from the leading opposition party, PSDB, (Brazilian Social Democracy) according to a public opinion poll released this week.

• Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:41 UTC

  Dilma has an extra 12 days to show 'non-doctored' government accounts

  

  Brazil's highest accounting court gave another 15 days for President Dilma Rousseff to respond to accusations she doctored the government accounts last year to hide the deterioration of the country's finances.

• Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:35 UTC

  Brazil unemployment climbs to 8.3% in 2Q; auto industry starting layoffs

  

  Brazil’s unemployment rate rose to 8.3% in the second quarter, according to a release from the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, IBGE. The ranks of the jobless expanded to 8.4 million people during the April-June period.

• Wednesday, August 26th 2015 - 06:46 UTC

  Brazil economy to contract 2.06% and 0.24% next year, says Central bank survey

  

  Analysts expect Brazil's economy to contract by 2.06% this year, with the inflation rate coming in at 9.29%, the Central Bank said Monday. GDP estimates come from the Boletin Focus, a weekly Central Bank survey of analysts from about 100 private financial institutions on the state of the national economy.

• Tuesday, August 25th 2015 - 20:13 UTC

  Rousseff planning to cut 10 of 39 ministries as commitment to austerity

  

  Brazil's government announced on Monday it will slash the number of ministries and reduce its spending, in an effort to show commitment to austerity that could be politically costly for President Dilma Rousseff.