British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Foreign Office Gillian Merron is currently in Brazil for a three-day trip with stops in Brasília, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, according to a release from the Foreign Office.
Brazil's government will cut taxes by 8.4 billion Real (approximately 3.6 billion USD) to prop the slowing economy and meet a 4% growth target in 2009 next year, Finance Minister Guido Mantega and Central Bank president Henrique Meirelles announced Thursday in Brasilia.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim warned on Tuesday that global trade talks would fail if members of the World Trade Organization tried to revise positions they had reached last July.
Brazil expanded at an annual 6.8% in the third-quarter, but the country was still hit hard by the global financial crisis and that has left investors wondering if Latinamerica's largest economy will avoid a further slide in growth.
Inflation in Brazil eased in November amid a slowing economy and dwindling consumer confidence reinforcing the view that the Central bank has room to hold interest rates next week for the second straight month. The Brazilian government is also expected to make further announcements to prop the economy and jobs.
The Brazilian economy could suffer a contraction during two consecutive quarters at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009, thus suffering a technical recession according to a report form Morgan Stanley released in New York.
Brazilian industrial production fell in October as the global financial meltdown sent shock waves through Latin America's largest economy, the government said Tuesday.It was the largest drop since Decemeber 2006.
Brazil announced on Monday a plan to cut destruction of its Amazon rain forest by more than half over the next 10 years. The aim is to reduce deforestation of the world's largest forest by 70% by 2018.
Brazil's trade surplus widened in November as imports fell by more than exports, the trade ministry said on Monday.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on a Latinamerican tour to expand alliances and business opportunities said on Tuesday he wanted to double trade with Brazil and expand cooperation in hi-tech areas.