Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez will be meeting his peer, Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia this Thursday to address a dense bilateral agenda, and more specifically the workings and future of Mercosur, in search for a more flexible group, open to agreements with third parties.
Beijing has come to the rescue of Brazil's slumping economy with trade, finance and investment deals worth at least 53 billion dollars in energy, mining, aviation and upgrading of dilapidated infrastructure.
China's Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Brasilia on Monday to sign agreements on infrastructure, energy and aviation that experts say could reach 100 billion dollars. The South American tour also includes Colombia, Peru and Chile and aims to restructure China's resource-driven trade with Latin American countries by including more value-added products.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff saw allies and members of her own Workers’ Party challenge her in Congress by voting in favor of boosting pension benefits.
Brazilian Finance Minister Joaquim Levy said he expected the country’s economic slowdown to be temporary and that fiscal discipline remained central to ensuring the recovery as a commodity price boom waned. Addressing investors in London, Levy said fiscal discipline was needed to cushion the economy against the inflationary effects of the falling Real currency.
Mercosur countries have reached a basic consensus to look for mechanisms that will allow individual members to negotiate trade agreements outside the block, announced Uruguay's foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa, who has been leading a strong campaign (with Brazilian support) on the issue.
Brazil’s Petrobras said that oil production in Santos and Campos basin pre-salt fields reached a milestone production volume of 800Mbbl/d. The volume was recorded on April 11, with 74% (590Mbbl/d) Petrobras’ share with the remainder belonging to partner companies working in different pre-salt areas.
China will invest 50 billion dollars to help overhaul Brazil's aging infrastructure, the government announced on Thursday, ahead of an official visit by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang next week. Brazil has repeated that it was determined to overhaul its dilapidated roads, railways, airports and ports.
Next June 30 Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will visit Washington D.C. to meet with President Barack Obama, a highly anticipated event given tensions between the two governments over the past two years.
Brazil's Congress Lower House passed a bill on Wednesday toughening access to social security pensions, the second measure approved in a week to cut benefits in a drive to reduce a growing fiscal deficit.