Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has not yet discussed raising gasoline and diesel prices to support state-run oil producer Petrobras, said her spokesperson in response to local media reports on Thursday.
Brazil's development bank BNDES chief Luciano Coutinho said on Thursday that a sustainable exchange rate for the country would be between 2.2 and 2.35 Reais to the US dollar, which is currently trading at around 2.44.
Brazil's central bank announced a currency-intervention program on Thursday that will provide 60 billion dollars worth of cash and insurance to the foreign-exchange market by year-end, a move aimed at bolstering the country's currency, the Real which has slipped to near five-year lows against the dollar.
Brazil's foreign minister on Thursday denied that the government's plan to hire 4,000 Cuban doctors to work in isolated areas has any ideological aspect. The decision was taken to improve public services and has no ideological motivation of any kind, Antonio Patriota told a congressional committee.
Argentina's trade surplus shrank by 40% in July from a year earlier as surging fuel and auto imports increased pressure on President Cristina Fernandez government's system of currency controls. However the unemployment rate in the second quarter fell to 7.2% according to official data.
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro has said it is a shame his city will be hosting the Olympic Games in 2016 because Brazil lacks a sports policy. Eduardo Paes said that his city should not pay for high performance athletes.
The Brazilian government has expressed concern that some hotels listed on FIFA website for the 2014 World Cup plan significant price increases during the tournament. Brazil’s tourism board, Embratur, is said to have notified the justice ministry after its research showed that rates will be up to 500% more expensive during the World Cup in some hotels offered by the MATCH Services agency on FIFA website.
Over one million World Cup finals ticket requests were made within the first seven hours of public sale, soccer's world governing body FIFA said on Tuesday. Most demand for tickets came from Brazil, Argentina, United States, Chile and England.
The Brazilian currency Real, which is the region’s reference, is undergoing one of its major depreciations against the US dollar in the last four years because of the poor performance of its economy and the tendency is to continue, at least in the short term, given the uncertainty about US monetary policy.
Non-commercial aircraft are expected to carry as many as one in nine international visitors to the World Cup in Brazil next year by some estimates, but industry leaders say the country is unprepared for the oncoming swarm.