The corruption-related arrest of a former top Brazilian lawmaker on Wednesday threatens to revive political turmoil and snap the momentum of a government economic reform campaign. Eduardo Cunha was taken into police custody Wednesday on accusations of corruption and money laundering related to oil platform contracts with state-controlled Petrobras. He denies the accusations.
A federal judge in Brazil ruled on Thursday that former President Lula da Silva will stand trial for an alleged bribery scheme related to work by construction giant Odebrecht in Angola. It's the second time in less than a month that a federal judge has ruled that Lula, a two-term president who left office in 2011 as Brazil's most popular president must stand trial.
Petrobras is reading to announce a domestic fuel policy that will avert costly subsidies that drained profits during Brazil’s previous government, Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente said in an interview. For years fuel prices were manipulated as part of the government's policy to keep inflation under control.
Brazil's Lower House of Congress approved on Monday a document which is the base for a Proposed Constitutional Amendment (PEC) that would freeze federal spending for the next 20 years, a legislative priority for Michel Temer's government in 2016.
Brazil's lower chamber of Congress approved this week the main points of a bill removing a requirement that state-led oil company Petrobras be the sole operator of vast offshore oil reserves in the costly subsalt layer with a minimum 30% stake in their development.
Brazil's inflation continued its slow fall in September in a positive sign for the new government as it wrestles to end the worst recession in nearly a century. The 12 month rate fell to 8.48%, down from 8.97% August hitting its lowest level for the month since 1998.
Brazilian prosecutors said on Monday they had charged former President Lula da Silva and Marcelo Odebrecht, ex-CEO of engineering group Odebrecht SA, with corruption related to contracts in Angola.
Brazil's economy is expected to return to growth next year and with a decrease in the value of the dollar vis-a-vis the Real in recent months, the country is back on track to becoming the world's eighth largest GDP in 2017 according to the IMF. Since last year, Brazil has been ranked ninth (2 positions below its ranking in 2014) due to the recession that started at the end of 2014.
The world is swimming in a record US$152 trillion in debt, the IMF said on Wednesday, even as the institution encourages some countries to spend more to boost flagging growth if they can afford it. Global debt, both public and private, reached 225% of global economic output last year, up from about 200% in 2002, the IMF said in its new Fiscal Monitor report.
Brazilian central bank chief Ilan Goldfajn said policymakers have no set time frame to cut interest rates, even as industrial data suggested that Latin America's biggest economy may take longer than expected to emerge from recession.