Brazil

• Friday, February 1st 2013 - 07:05 UTC

  Brazil’ overall budget deficit: 2.47% of GDP and primary surplus of 2.38% GDP

  

  Brazil failed to reach its primary budget surplus goal last year posting a primary surplus of 104.951 billion Reais (53 billion dollars), the equivalent of 2.38% of GDP, according to central bank data released this week, which was below the annual target of 139.8 billion Reais, approx 3.1% of GDP.

• Thursday, January 31st 2013 - 07:52 UTC

  Petrobras raises gasoline and diesel prices, but markets say it’s insufficient

  

  Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras said in a market filing that it would increase refinery prices for gasoline and diesel by 6.6% and 5.4%, respectively, starting on January 31. However the market’s reaction was negative with the Bovespa stock exchange falling to a seven-week low.

• Thursday, January 31st 2013 - 07:37 UTC

  FIFA 2014 World Cup presents ambassadors and unveils the official poster

  

  The newly appointed ambassadors of the 2014 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday 30 January 2013, unveiled the tournament’s Official Poster at a media briefing in Rio de Janeiro. Four FIFA World Cup winners, Amarildo, Carlos Alberto Torres, Bebeto and Ronaldo, as well as women’s football star Marta, were invited by FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke to end the suspense and help unveil the design.

• Thursday, January 31st 2013 - 07:10 UTC

  Brazil’s media: highly concentrated and heavily reliant on government advertising

  

  Reporters Without Borders released a report entitled “Brazil, the country of 30 Berlusconis” that examines all of the shortcomings of the country’s media landscape It is based on fact-finding visits to Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasilia in November 2012.

• Wednesday, January 30th 2013 - 08:52 UTC

  Brazilian economy creates the least payroll jobs in 2012 since 2003

  

  The once-booming Brazilian economy created the fewest new jobs in a decade during 2012 as struggling manufacturing industries and mining companies hired fewer workers, according to Labour ministry data. Latinamerica’s leading economy added 1.3 million payroll jobs last year, the worst result since 2003 and way below the 2 million jobs created in 2011.

• Wednesday, January 30th 2013 - 06:39 UTC

  Brazil committed to CELAC and to all regional and subregional integration groups

  

  Brazil said Latinamerica and Caribbean cohesion does not only mean strengthening CELAC (Community of Latinamerican and Caribbean States) but also advancing in the other integration processes of the region.

• Wednesday, January 30th 2013 - 06:22 UTC

  Sao Paulo delegation in UK with PPP infrastructure projects worth 20bn dollars

  

  British Trade Minister Lord Green has welcomed a trade delegation from the Government of the state of Sao Paulo who are in the UK to present eight Public Private Partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects, worth 20 billion dollars, to British potential contractors.

• Monday, January 28th 2013 - 04:10 UTC

  Santa Maria tragedy: Three days of national mourning; Rousseff cuts short political summit in Chile

  

  Brazil declared on Sunday three days of national mourning and flags at half mast following the tragedy in the southern university city of Santa Maria where at least 233 people were killed or trampled to death when a disco went on fire.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 21:23 UTC

  Lagarde surprised at the ‘very slow’ recovery of the Brazilian economy

  

  IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she is unsure about Brazil’s economic outlook despite the country’s official estimate of 3.5% growth this year, since recovery is “very slow” as the 1% of 2012 showed.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 20:44 UTC

  Mercosur/Paraguay controversy reaches EU/CELAC summit in Chile

  

  Chile confirmed that Paraguay finally decided not to attend the EU/CELAC summit in Chile putting an end to a controversy when it emerged that several Mercosur and Unasur members insisted that the landlocked country should not be invited.