Brazil

• Monday, April 20th 2015 - 06:51 UTC

  Brazil tells IMF it's working with Congress to restore fiscal balance and structural change

  

  Brazil is working with Congress on a broad agenda of structural changes to improve the business climate, increase productivity and set price signals correctly to stimulate investment, announced Finance minister Joaquim Levy in his speech to the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) this weekend.

• Monday, April 20th 2015 - 06:42 UTC

  Brazilian leading contractor admits paying 36m dollars in bribes to Petrobras officials

  

  A vice president of construction company Camargo Correa told Brazilian prosecutors that he paid 36 million dollars in bribes to officials of state-controlled oil company Petrobras, the press reported, citing a document prepared by prosecutors.

• Thursday, April 16th 2015 - 08:12 UTC

  Brazil questions Argentina's approach to China in military procurement

  

  Brazil's minister of defense Jacques Wagner questioned Argentina's approach to China regarding military procurement, but discarded any conflict with Buenos Aires, since the country is a 'strategic and important partner' of Brazil. Apparently the issue was brought up by Jacques when he visited his counterpart Agustín Rossi in Buenos Aires last week.

• Thursday, April 16th 2015 - 08:07 UTC

  Petrobras corruption probe encroaching President Rousseff; party's treasurer arrested

  

  A widening investigation into alleged corruption at Brazil’s state-controlled oil giant Petrobras took a step closer to President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday when police arrested the ruling party’s treasurer, João Vaccari Neto, who has been charged with receiving “irregular donations” for the Workers’ Party, or PT, from some of the oil company’s suppliers.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2015 - 07:46 UTC

  Brazil's economy expected to contract 1% as challenges remain unaddressed, says IMF report

  

  The International Monetary Fund expects Brazil's economy to contract by one percent this year, it said Tuesday, slashing its previous forecast of 0.3% growth. The world's seventh-largest economy is being hit by inflation, private-sector doldrums and a massive corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras, the IMF said in its latest forecast.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2015 - 07:37 UTC

  Brazil raises estimates of corn and soybean harvests, helped by late rainfall

  

  Brazil raised estimates for both its corn and soybean harvests, citing rains which had come in time to boost yields of later planted crops, besides boosting expectations for safrinha corn. The official Conab crop bureau lifted by 1.0m tons to 94.3m tons its estimate for Brazil's soybean production in 2014-15, as late rainfall helped results “surprise positively” in particular in central areas.

• Monday, April 13th 2015 - 09:08 UTC

  Hundreds of thousands take to the streets of Brazil to protest against Rousseff

  

  Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday, venting anger over government corruption and a souring economy a month after protests gathered more than a million people. With cries of “Dilma out” and “corrupt government,” marchers -- many wearing the yellow and green jerseys of the national football team -- called for President Dilma Rousseff's ouster and an end to impunity for corruption.

• Monday, April 13th 2015 - 08:17 UTC

  Uruguay/Brazil meeting to attempt an advance in Mercosur/EU trade talks

  

  Uruguay and Brazil foreign ministers Rodolfo Nin Novoa and Mauro Vieira will be meeting this week in Brasilia in yet another attempt to push forward the stalled negotiations for a trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, according to the minutes of a meeting of the Uruguayan official with members of the Foreign Affairs committee.

• Sunday, April 12th 2015 - 08:06 UTC

  Obama announces Brazilian president Rousseff visit to Washington on June 30

  

  US President Barack Obama announced that Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff will visit Washington on June 30, almost two years after she cancelled a trip over a US spying scandal. Obama made the announcement during a bilateral meeting with Rousseff, on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in Panama City.

• Saturday, April 11th 2015 - 13:05 UTC

  Brazil's anti-corruption drive nets three former lawmakers

  

  Brazilian police arrested on Friday three former congressmen broadening their corruption investigation beyond state-run oil giant Petrobras to state lender Caixa Economica Federal and the federal health ministry.