Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered the release from jail of nine executives from engineering corporations charged in the corruption investigation at state-run oil firm Petrobras. In a statement the court said that the executives had the right to defend themselves out of jail, although they will be under house arrest.
Analysts have reviewed negatively Brazil's 2015 inflation and growth forecasts, according to the latest Focus report from the Central Bank, released on Monday. The survey which includes 100 analysts from private financial institutions on the state of the economy anticipates inflation of 8.25% and 1.1% contraction of GDP by the end of the year.
A close ally of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and currently part of her government's coalition said “too much stealing” by Lula da Silva's ruling Workers Party (PT) is responsible for the country's political crisis and public opinion disenchantment with politics.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc has taken into account the risks presented by the Petrobras graft scandal to its expanding operations in Brazil and is confident the Brazilian state-run oil company will emerge stronger, Shell's CEO said in an interview.
Petrobras oil platforms off the north-east coast of Brazil have halted production after a leak of about 44 barrels (7000 liters) of oil was detected coming from a pipeline linking them, a local oil workers union head said over the weekend.
The Brazilian judge overseeing the investigation into alleged corruption at Petrobras on Wednesday convicted eight people of crimes related to kickbacks and bribery. Judge Sergio Moro found former Petrobras executive Paulo Roberto Costa and currency dealer Alberto Youssef guilty of money laundering, and Mr. Costa of belonging to a criminal organization.
With the release of audited financials, Brazilian oil giant Petrobras believes it has started to normalize its relationship with investors and to implement better corporate governance in the wake of the financial scandal that has rocked the company, its chief financial officer said on Thursday.
Brazil's economy added jobs in March for the first time since November, government data showed on Thursday, suggesting the country's likely recession may not be as severe as many economists feared. Factories, farms and services companies in Brazil added a net 19,282 jobs in March, the Labor Ministry said, topping market expectations for 25,000 net firings.
Brazilian engineering conglomerate Grupo OAS expects revenue to shrink more than 50% by 2017 as it sells operations and refocuses on civil construction after filing for bankruptcy protection due to a bribery scandal at a state-run oil company.
Brazil's state-run oil giant Petrobras which has been bashed by a wide-spread corruption scandal, reported on Wednesday a 2014 net loss of 21.6 billion Reais (7.2 billion dollars) after taking 50.8 billion Reais in charges.