Brazil

• Saturday, April 25th 2009 - 10:24 UTC

  Petrobras establishes new production records during March

  

  Brazil’s government managed oil and gas corporation Petrobras established in March new production records, according to a release from the company. The average oil and gas production last month reached 2,315,276 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), 9.5% more than a year ago and 3% above last month’s mark.

• Saturday, April 25th 2009 - 07:40 UTC

  Black population becomes the majority in Brazil

  

  Brazil and its almost 200 million population is no longer a country of white majority. The credit now belongs to the 49.6% black or mulatto population compared to the 49.4% defined as white and this is set to increase in coming years with that percentage increasing to 54, according to a recent report from the Rio do Janeiro Federal University.

• Friday, April 24th 2009 - 10:26 UTC

  Argentina, Brazil agree to disagree …more discreetly

  

  Argentina and Brazil confirmed on Thursday their strategic alliance particularly in the face of the current global crisis challenge and also tried to bridge their differences regarding bilateral trade and claims of protectionism.

• Friday, April 24th 2009 - 09:48 UTC

  Brazil not satisfied with IMF capitalization proposals

  

  Brazil and other emerging economies are willing to provide additional financing to the International Monetary Fund but they are still not happy with the capitalization mechanism proposed by the institution, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Thursday.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 13:27 UTC

  Slower Brazilian economy cuts current account deficit by half

  

  Brazil’s current account deficit dropped by half in the first quarter compared to a year ago as businesses cut imports and sent less money to parent companies abroad amid slower economic growth. According to the latest release from the Central Bank the deficit narrowed to 5 billion US dollars in the first quarter of the year compared to 10.3 billion in the same period in 2008.

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 13:09 UTC

  Brazil liberates international air passenger fares

  

  Brazil’s Civil Aviation Agency, ANAC, announced Wednesday the gradual liberation of air fares for all international flights departing from Brazil. The decision applies to all regular airlines, national or international and will be arranged according to a one year chronogram.

• Tuesday, April 21st 2009 - 12:58 UTC

  Creditor Brazil fights for bigger say in the IMF

  

  Brazil is expected to push very hard to have more say in the International Monetary Fund, reflecting the importance of emerging countries. To support that greater influence Brazil has pledged to advance up to 4.5 billion US dollars to the multilateral organization.

• Sunday, April 19th 2009 - 05:03 UTC

  Brazilian agriculture, world’s top consumers of pesticides

  

  Brazil became in 2008 the world's top consumer of agriculture pesticides (ahead of the US), and continues to use a range of dangerous pesticides banned in other countries, according to a study released Friday.

• Saturday, April 18th 2009 - 03:55 UTC

  Emergency credit aid for Brazil’s ailing meatpacking industry

  

  Brazil's government will offer a ten billion Reales credit line from BNDES, the National Development Bank to support activities in agribusiness, Finance Minister Guido Mantega announced. He added the funds would go mostly to support Brazil’s ailing meatpacking sector and would be offered at an annual interest rate of 11.25%.

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 12:08 UTC

  Brazil slashes primary budget surplus to stimulate economy

  

  Brazil's government cut its 2009 primary budget surplus target to 2.5% of GDP from 3.8% and set a target of 3.3% of GDP for the next three years, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Wednesday speaking at a Congressional hearing.