Brazil

• Thursday, October 30th 2014 - 10:39 UTC

  In a divided vote, Brazil's central bank raised the Selic rate 25 points to 11.25%

  

  In a surprise move and in divided vote (5 to 3), Brazil's central bank monetary board, Copom, decided to raise its benchmark Selic rate by 25 basis points to 11.25%. A majority of economists and analysts anticipated that the bank would opt to keep rates unchanged.

• Thursday, October 30th 2014 - 10:33 UTC

  The challenges faced by Dilma Rousseff

  

  In a strong editorial the influential Folha de Sao Paulo argues that Brazil's reelected President Dilma Rousseff must reestablish confidence to the nation, which is divided regionally and socially, must implement a fluid dialogue with productive Brazil because the economy needs changes and new faces, and must rule for all the country, because victory was the result of millimetrical dispute in Sunday's runoff.

• Wednesday, October 29th 2014 - 07:16 UTC

  Sweden's Saab wins Brazilian 5.4bn dollars contract to sell 36 fighter jets

  

  Swedish aerospace and defence firm Saab has finalised a 5.4 billion dollars order to sell 36 fighter jets to Brazil, one of the most valuable defence contracts up for grabs in an emerging market. Saab said in a statement the total order value for the NG Gripen jets, to be delivered between 2019 and 2024, was around 39.3 billion Swedish crowns (5.4 billion).

• Wednesday, October 29th 2014 - 06:35 UTC

  Obama congratulates Dilma and underlines 'strategic value' of relation with Brazil

  

  President Barack Obama on Tuesday telephoned Brazilian head of state Dilma Rousseff to congratulate her on her re-election, the White House said in a statement. Obama “emphasized the strategic value of our bilateral partnership and reinforced his commitment to deepening our cooperation in areas such as commerce, energy, and other priority bilateral issues through our existing strategic dialogues”.

• Wednesday, October 29th 2014 - 05:27 UTC

  Argentina hopes to renew air power following Brazil's deal to manufacture Gripen fighter jets

  

  Brazilian media has confirmed that Argentina is probing to join with Brazil in the procurement of 24 Saab Gripen NG fighters, following the recently signed bilateral cooperation agreement under the heading of “Aeronautic industry strategic alliance” (AEIA), which was discussed this month by the two countries defense ministers.

• Tuesday, October 28th 2014 - 15:27 UTC

  Brazilian economy remains in recession; Central bank survey indicates 0.27% growth this year

  

  Private sector analysts are maintaining their 2014 growth forecast for Brazil's economy at 0.27%, the Central Bank said on Monday. GDP estimate was included in the Focus review, a weekly Central Bank survey of analysts from about 100 private financial institutions on the state of the national economy.

• Tuesday, October 28th 2014 - 06:47 UTC

  Brazil's markets react negatively to Rousseff's re-election; waiting for new finance minister name

  

  A sharp drop in Brazil’s financial markets signalled investors are unsure whether the newly re-elected President Dilma Rousseff will take the necessary steps to reinvigorate the country’s stalled economy.

• Tuesday, October 28th 2014 - 06:18 UTC

  Reelected Dilma and Cristina Fernandez will discuss “strengthening Mercosur”

  

  The reelected President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff called President Cristina Fernandez on Monday to thank her Argentine counterpart for her message of congratulations following victory at the polls, as well as organizing a bilateral meeting in Australia during the G20 summit.

• Tuesday, October 28th 2014 - 06:06 UTC

  Praise for reelected Dilma and Brazilian election from OAS Insulza

  

  The Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, congratulated Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, on her victory in Sunday´s election, and highlighted the exemplary character of the electoral process as well as wishing the Brazilian leader success in her new administration.

• Monday, October 27th 2014 - 02:08 UTC

  Dilma with Lula da Silva's magic, re-elected in rich-poor divided Brazil

  

  Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff supported by the decisive campaigning of Lula da Silva, narrowly won re-election on Sunday after convincing voters that the record on poverty reduction in the last twelve years was more important than a recent economic slump.