Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Brazil’s credit rating further below investment grade on Thursday as doubts grew about a presidential election in October and a push to trim its costly pension system, seen as vital to closing a huge fiscal deficit. S&P lowered its long-term rating for Brazil sovereign debt to BB- from BB previously, with a stable outlook, citing less timely and effective policymaking. S&P also cited a risk of greater policy uncertainty after this year’s elections.
Brazil is the latest country to unveil plans to censor the Internet, following in the footsteps of Germany, France, and other European countries. Earlier this week the country’s official Twitter account for the Federal Police, (equivalent to FBI), announced efforts to “punish” anyone who disseminates political content it deems “false.” The federal government of Brazil is extending its ability to enforce regulation and control of its sector of the Internet.
Brazilian stocks edged higher to mark a record close on Monday, underpinned by optimism over the nation's fiscal outlook as well as a strong flow of international investment. The benchmark Bovespa stock index continued its climb following a seven-day string of gains.
Brazilian police have requested that President Michel Temer answers 50 questions as part of an investigation into alleged corruption involving a decree regulating the country's ports, a government spokesman said.
Brazil’s President Michel Temer appeared keen to demonstrate on Thursday he had recovered from his latest bout of ill health, inviting the press to photograph him during a brisk walk in a Brasilia park. Temer, 77, last month underwent a “minor surgical procedure” to resolve a urethral obstruction at the Sirio-Libanes Hospital in Sao Paulo.
Brazil's road to economic recovery has passed another milestone with official data showing on Tuesday that the country finished 2017 with a record trade surplus 40.5% higher than in the previous year. The US$67 billion surplus was in line with market projections and within the US$65/70bn range forecast by the government.
Brazilian President Michel Temer signed a measure that paves the way for the privatization of Eletrobras, Latin America’s largest power company, according to a government official.
The government does not work on the hypothesis of a rating downgrade by the main credit rating agencies, said Brazil's Treasury Secretary Ana Paula Vescovi during an interview to release the primary results of the Central Government.
Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will learn in January whether a prison sentence against him is upheld, officials said, potentially knocking him out of next year's presidential election. Lula was sentenced in July to 9.5 years behind bars after being convicted of corruption in Brazil's huge Car Wash graft scandal.
The head of Brazil’s Supreme Court suspended parts of a Christmas decree from President Michel Temer granting pardons to convicted criminals on Thursday, saying Temer’s actions needed further examination by the court. Cármen Lúcia ruled largely in favor of a legal challenge by Brazil’s top prosecutor, Raquel Dodge, who said on Wednesday that the pardons were unconstitutional and threatened a probe into the country’s largest-ever corruption scandal.