Brazil

• Monday, October 25th 2010 - 02:33 UTC

  Serra promises “substantial” changes to relations with Mercosur if elected president

  

  Brazil’s presidential opposition candidate Jose Serra promised substantial changes to the country’s foreign policy if elected next Sunday. He specifically mentioned Brazil’s lobbying for a seat at the UN Security Council, the functioning of Mercosur and relations with Cuba and Iran.

• Sunday, October 24th 2010 - 03:00 UTC

  The Economist prefers Jose Serra as a better president but admits the inevitable

  

  Nevertheless it admits that Dilma Rousseff, with the help from outgoing president Lula da Silva, (and his extraordinary political gifts and innate pragmatism), will most probably be the winner.

• Saturday, October 23rd 2010 - 03:21 UTC

  South American soy producers ally “to avoid buyers’ manipulation”

  

  Argentina and Brazil are negotiating an alliance with other South American producers of grains and oilseeds to deal jointly with buyers in Asia and elsewhere, according to Brazilian Agriculture Minister Wagner Rossi.

• Saturday, October 23rd 2010 - 03:12 UTC

  Dilma ten percentage points ahead of Serra, with only a week left

  

  Brazil’s ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff is pulling ahead in the presidential run-off as the focus of the campaign shifts away from controversial social issues and back to the economic gains of recent years.

• Friday, October 22nd 2010 - 03:23 UTC

  Brazil rejects any idea of NATO interfering in the South Atlantic

  

  Brazil rejects any interference of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, in the South Atlantic or any idea of a similar organization at South Atlantic level, reports “O Estado de Sao Paulo”.

• Friday, October 22nd 2010 - 03:16 UTC

  Brazil set to grow 7.5% this year and 5.9% in 2011; inflation 5.1% and 5%

  

  Brazil’s GDP may grow 7.5% this year, up from a previous estimate of 7%, the Finance Ministry said in a report published on its website Thursday. The ministry also raised its forecast for average growth between 2010 and 2014 to 5.9%, from 5.7%.

• Friday, October 22nd 2010 - 03:07 UTC

  Geithner promises Brazil it won’t allow the US dollar to weaken

  

  US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega that the Obama administration won’t allow the US dollar to weaken, Mantega said.

• Friday, October 22nd 2010 - 02:51 UTC

  Brazil predicted to displace Italy as seventh world economy in 2011

  

  The Economist Intelligence Unit is predicting that in 2011 Brazil would move ahead of Italy into seventh place in the ranking of the largest world economies with a GDP of 2 trillion US dollars.

• Friday, October 22nd 2010 - 02:34 UTC

  Brazil keeps benchmark interest rate at 10.75% in spite of inflation peak

  

  Brazil’s central bank kept its benchmark overnight rate unchanged Wednesday as policy makers gauge whether a peak in inflation is temporary. The policy committee, led by bank President Henrique Meirelles in a unanimous decision, left the rate at 10.75% for a second straight meeting.

• Thursday, October 21st 2010 - 07:30 UTC

  Lula da Silva promises to defend currency from further appreciation

  

  Brazil’s Lula da Silva said that the G-20 group must address the issue of the “currencies war” in direct reference to the forced depreciation by some rich countries of their currencies which negatively affects the competitiveness of its trade partners, particularly in the developing world.