Brazil’s Acting President Michel Temer is in damage-control mode as his administration faces its first political crisis with a corruption scandal that helped bring down his predecessor encroaching on his inner circle. Top Temer ally and newly-appointed Budget Minister Romero Juca went before journalists on Monday to deny allegations made earlier in the day that... Continue Reading →
Brazil Real Drops Most in Emerging Markets on Political Concern
Brazil’s real led a selloff in emerging-market currencies after local media reported that the newly appointed planning minister was working to end a graft probe that has implicated some of the country’s top politicians, calling into question acting President Michel Temer’s pledges to root out corruption. The real dropped for the first time in three... Continue Reading →
Meanwhile, back at the House of Cards – Brazil minister rules out resigning on report he sought to halt graft probe
Newly appointed Brazilian Planning Minister Romero Juca on Monday said he would not resign over a newspaper account saying he sought to stall a wide-ranging corruption probe centered on state-controlled oil company Petrobras, a newspaper reported. The Folha de S. Paulo daily published purported excerpts of taped conversations between Juca and Sergio Machado, the former... Continue Reading →
Investors labour under delusion Brazil is a quick fix
Brazil’s structural problems will take steam out of rally in assets Markets Insight © AFP by: Alberto Gallo/FT Brazilians love telenovelas, soap operas that air every evening in prime time. President Dilma Rousseff’s recent impeachment offered all the typical twists and turns. The show involved months of political infighting and media attention, with former president and... Continue Reading →
Brazil warned of budget ‘time bomb’/FT
Former central bank governor Fraga says spending measures could worsen precarious fiscal situation © Reuters by: Joe Leahy in São Paulo/FT Brazil’s new government urgently needs to defuse fiscal “time bombs” that are set to blow up the country’s already strained budget, according to Arminio Fraga, the former central bank governor and founding partner of Gávea Investimentos, one... Continue Reading →
Exclusive: Brazil organizes investor meetings for state asset sales
The Brazilian government plans to host a round of investor meetings to market a broad plan of asset sales, a key initiative to help raise cash and reduce a record budget deficit, a senior official and people familiar with the matter told Reuters. According to Wellington Moreira Franco, the head of a government agency to... Continue Reading →
Clarification on News: Resignation of the CEO Aldemir Bendine
Rio de Janeiro, May 20, 2016 – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras hereby answers to the Official Letter No. 222/2016/CVM/SEP/GEA-1, which requests the following clarifications: Official Letter No. 222/2016-CVM/SEP/GEA-1 “Mr. Director, We refer to the news item published today in the newspaper Estadão Online, News section, under the title: "To make the change in Petrobras... Continue Reading →
Petrobras Is Still Underpriced
Despite a corruption probe and Brazil’s governance crisis, the oil giant has room to run, aided by factors including firmer oil prices and possible lower interest rates. By DIMITRA DEFOTIS/Barron's May 21, 2016 A Petrobras station in Rio de Janeiro Photo: Bloomberg News Emerging Markets The U.S.-traded shares of Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro... Continue Reading →
Brazil police widen Odebrecht probe with Angola contracts
May 20 Brazil's federal police on Friday said they widened a probe of construction conglomerate Odebrecht SA to investigate possible money laundering and influence peddling in contracts awarded for projects in Angola. At least one relative to former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was targeted by the operation that included four search and seizure... Continue Reading →
Petrobras Climbs on New CEO Appointment as Ibovespa Fluctuates
Petroleo Brasileiro SA rallied after the appointment of a new chief executive officer for the beleaguered state-controlled oil producer. The Ibovespa fluctuated. Petrobras, as Petroleo Brasileiro is known, advanced as Pedro Parente, the former president of agribusiness giant Bunge Ltd.’s Brazil unit, was named to lead the company at the heart of a graft scandal that... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 