Brazil

• Tuesday, April 28th 2015 - 05:44 UTC

  Brazil's economy expected to further contract and inflation to reach 8.25%

  

  Analysts have reviewed negatively Brazil's 2015 inflation and growth forecasts, according to the latest Focus report from the Central Bank, released on Monday. The survey which includes 100 analysts from private financial institutions on the state of the economy anticipates inflation of 8.25% and 1.1% contraction of GDP by the end of the year.

• Monday, April 27th 2015 - 22:40 UTC

  Brazil's ruling party of Lula and Dilma 'stole too much' and its time 'is over'

  

  A close ally of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and currently part of her government's coalition said “too much stealing” by Lula da Silva's ruling Workers Party (PT) is responsible for the country's political crisis and public opinion disenchantment with politics.

• Monday, April 27th 2015 - 10:14 UTC

  Shell confident Petrobras will recover and willing to purchase more assets from the Brazil oil giant

  

  Royal Dutch Shell Plc has taken into account the risks presented by the Petrobras graft scandal to its expanding operations in Brazil and is confident the Brazilian state-run oil company will emerge stronger, Shell's CEO said in an interview.

• Monday, April 27th 2015 - 10:04 UTC

  Petrobras halts production in four platforms off Sergipe following a leak

  

  Petrobras oil platforms off the north-east coast of Brazil have halted production after a leak of about 44 barrels (7000 liters) of oil was detected coming from a pipeline linking them, a local oil workers union head said over the weekend.

• Friday, April 24th 2015 - 22:08 UTC

  Eight first convictions in Petrobras corruption case including a former manager

  

  The Brazilian judge overseeing the investigation into alleged corruption at Petrobras on Wednesday convicted eight people of crimes related to kickbacks and bribery. Judge Sergio Moro found former Petrobras executive Paulo Roberto Costa and currency dealer Alberto Youssef guilty of money laundering, and Mr. Costa of belonging to a criminal organization.

• Friday, April 24th 2015 - 08:51 UTC

  Petrobras normalizing links with investors on improved governance and transparency

  

  With the release of audited financials, Brazilian oil giant Petrobras believes it has started to normalize its relationship with investors and to implement better corporate governance in the wake of the financial scandal that has rocked the company, its chief financial officer said on Thursday.

• Friday, April 24th 2015 - 08:43 UTC

  Good news for Brazil: economy adds jobs for the first time since November

  

  Brazil's economy added jobs in March for the first time since November, government data showed on Thursday, suggesting the country's likely recession may not be as severe as many economists feared. Factories, farms and services companies in Brazil added a net 19,282 jobs in March, the Labor Ministry said, topping market expectations for 25,000 net firings.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2015 - 08:45 UTC

  Brasil's third biggest builder contracting drastically after Petrobras scandal and bankrupcy

  

  Brazilian engineering conglomerate Grupo OAS expects revenue to shrink more than 50% by 2017 as it sells operations and refocuses on civil construction after filing for bankruptcy protection due to a bribery scandal at a state-run oil company.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2015 - 07:09 UTC

  Petrobras reveals extent of its losses because of corruption and mismanagement

  

  Brazil's state-run oil giant Petrobras which has been bashed by a wide-spread corruption scandal, reported on Wednesday a 2014 net loss of 21.6 billion Reais (7.2 billion dollars) after taking 50.8 billion Reais in charges.

• Wednesday, April 22nd 2015 - 06:35 UTC

  Petrobras receives financial support from China and local banks

  

  Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras approved a series of financial agreements with local and international banks that will meet its financing needs in 2015, the company announced. In a filing with local stock regulators, Petrobras said that the deals will provide the company with access to about 6.2 billion dollars, including a 3.5bn financing contract reached with China Development Bank on April 1.