The central government’s primary budget deficit last month was the worst on record and wider than all but one forecast made by analysts, underscoring the challenges facing Brazil’s Finance Minister Nelson Barbosa as he struggles to win investor confidence. The gap, which excludes interest payments as well as municipalities and government-run companies, was 21.3 billion... Continue Reading →
Brazil Real Leads World Gains as Exporter Inflows Outweigh China
Brazil’s real led world gains, countering a slide in emerging-market currencies, as dollar inflows from local exporters overshadowed signs of a slowdown in the nation’s top trading partner. The real added 1.4 percent to 3.8883 per dollar at 1:26 p.m. in Sao Paulo, the most among 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg. It had dropped... Continue Reading →
In Brazil’s Bad Year, These Corporate Borrowers Were Hardest Hit
For Brazil, 2015 was never going to be a banner year. But even the pessimists were surprised by how bad it actually turned out to be. Latin America’s largest economy was hit by crisis after crisis: A colossal corruption scandal. The worst recession in a quarter century. A growing fiscal deficit. The arrest of a billionaire... Continue Reading →
Little Christmas joy for Brazil’s jailed high and mighty
The former chief executive officer of Latin America's largest engineering group will be allowed panettone in his jail cell this Christmas. He may even get turkey, as long as it is boneless. For the first sitting Brazilian senator to be jailed in modern times, the season will be equally gloomy. He will spend Christmas Day... Continue Reading →
BNDES to pay $1.2 bln in dividends to Brazil’s treasury -report
Brazil's state development bank BNDES will pay 4.8 billion reais ($1.22 billion) in dividends to the Treasury, supporting efforts by the government to balance its 2015 accounts, a local newspaper reported on Saturday. The Estado de S.Paulo, citing sources with knowledge of the decision, said the bank's board approved the payment on Wednesday after it... Continue Reading →
Rousseff Future on Hold as Brazilians Take Break From Crisis
Brasilia is becoming something of a ghost town after one of its most tumultuous years in recent memory. The protagonists in this year’s political crisis are fleeing the nation’s capital to spend summer holidays in their home towns or seaside getaways, leaving behind questions about the fate of the president and congressional leaders embroiled in... Continue Reading →
Tests in the Carcará area, in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin, confirm high productivity
12/22/2015 Rio de Janeiro, December 22, 2015 – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras hereby announces that it concluded two formation tests in the 3-SPS-105 well, confirming the high productivity of the pre-salt carbonate reservoirs. The 3-SPS-105 well, informally known as Carcará Norte, is located in the area of the Carcará Discovery Evaluation Plan (PAD), 4.6... Continue Reading →
Brazil regulator sets rules for Petrobras oil fields rights renewal
Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras will have to agree to extract at least 900 million barrels more of oil and natural gas equivalent from its Marlim and Voador offshore oil fields to win early renewal of its concession rights, oil regulator ANP said. Financially troubled Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras, the world's most-indebted oil company,... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s Golden Boy Is Gone. Bond Traders Don’t Like It One Bit.
Investors in Brazil aren’t holding out much hope that its new finance minister can turn the economy around and shore up the nation’s finances. To be fair, it’d be a tough job for just about anyone. Nelson Barbosa takes over as head of President Dilma Rousseff’s revamped economic team as Latin America’s largest economy is... Continue Reading →
U.S. judge dismisses Petrobras motion, limits some funds’ claims
A U.S. judge has narrowed a class-action lawsuit by investors against Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras over losses stemming from a bribery and political kickback scandal. But U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York otherwise denied requests by Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is known, to dismiss parts of the investor case. Under the... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 