Brazil

• 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.

• Thursday, April 16th 2009 - 09:53 UTC

  Lula da Silva has the highest approval rating; Cristina K the lowest

  

  Brazil’s President Lula da Silva and Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe with over 70% approval have the best leaders’ performances in Latinamerica while in the other extreme figure Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner and Honduras Manuel Zelaya, below 30%, according to the prestigious Mexican pollster Consulta Mitofsky.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2009 - 10:45 UTC

  Lower House approves Brazil’s Sovereign Wealth Fund

  

  Brazil’s Congress Lower House approved on Tuesday night approved legislation making an existing Sovereign Wealth Fund into a permanent fixture. The Chamber of Deputies voted 274-102 to approve a government bill making the fund permanent and approving an initial total for it of 14.2 billion Brazilian Reales, approximately 6.5 billion US dollars.