Brazilian markets plummeted on Thursday as allegations that President Michel Temer condoned bribes to silence a key witness deflated investor optimism about the prospects for his ambitious pension and labor reform agenda.
Brazil's currency, the Real, tumbled on Thursday after the government announced it would slash its fiscal savings goals for this year and next, raising investor fears that the country may lose its investment-grade credit rating.
Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, one of Brazil's strongest and leading banking groups is provisioning more for loan losses and curbing loan book growth in a bet that careful risk management will help the bank navigate the country's steepest recession in over two decades.
Brazilian bank Itaú Unibanco purchased a 3.6% stake in Argentina’s nationalized oil company YPF, an operation involving 157.8 million dollars.
The three-year build-up to the 2014 soccer World Cup is set to boost Brazil’s economy by 1.5% of GDP, according to Ilan Goldfajn, chief economist of the Itau Unibanco Holding, Latin America’s largest bank by market value.