Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff smiles as she attends a meeting with jurists at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, March 22, 2016. REUTERS/ADRIANO MACHADO President Dilma Rousseff's popularity remains close to historic lows, according to a poll on Wednesday, amid a mounting political crisis following the loss of her main coalition partner this week that increased... Continue Reading →
Whiffs of interest rate cuts in Brazil
As impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff grows more likely, chances are rising that Brazil’s central bank may also go under new management in a matter of months. But regardless of whether central bank chief Alexandre Tombini stays in office for long, prospects of interest rate cuts have found their way back on investors’ radar. Brazil’s economy is... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s biggest party quits coalition, isolating Rousseff
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff (L) talks to Vice President Michel Temer at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, in this March 2, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/ADRIANO MACHADO/FILES Brazil's largest party announced on Tuesday it is leaving President Dilma Rousseff's governing coalition and pulling its members from her government, a departure that cripples her fight against... Continue Reading →
U.S. probes Brazil’s Odebrecht, Braskem for corruption
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating possible corruption in contracts among Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem, engineering conglomerate Odebrecht and the country's state-run oil company Petrobras, a newspaper said on Tuesday. Local daily Valor Economico said the Justice Department was focusing its investigation on whether the companies violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in naphtha... Continue Reading →
Wrong way Golfarb – Brazil’s Lula calls for end to austerity, return to growth
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged a return to pro-growth economic policies like tax breaks and more consumer credit on Monday, doubling down on a strategy that has strained public accounts in recent years. Lula said during a news conference that he wanted to serve as an advisor to his successor, President... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s government seeks re-election of Petrobras chairman
Mar 29, 2016 Reuters UPDATE 1-Brazil's government seeks re-election of Petrobras chairman Brazil's government, the controlling shareholder of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, proposed re-election of economist Luiz Nelson Guedes de Carvalho as board chairman of the state-run oil producer, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The nomination will be subject to a vote at... Continue Reading →
Brazil party set to abandon Rousseff, making impeachment more likely
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff arrives to a meeting with jurists at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, March 22, 2016. REUTERS/ADRIANO MACHADO Brazil's largest party will decide on Tuesday to break away from President Dilma Rousseff's floundering coalition, party leaders said, sharply raising the odds that the country's first woman president will be impeached amid a... Continue Reading →
Never Ending Saga – Rousseff’s Likely Successor Has Legal Problems of His Own
With President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil looking increasingly likely to face impeachment by early May, investors are turning their attention to the man who’d succeed her. Michel Temer, the vice president, has plenty of traits that’d be welcomed in a country mired in a brutal recession. Those who know him best say he’s a business-friendly... Continue Reading →
Credit Suisse: The Death of Oil Demand has been Greatly Exaggerated
Even as U.S. oil production started to slide in the second half of 2015, the downside risks to oil prices continued to dominate. In the third quarter, broad-based manufacturing softness and financial market turmoil threatened to derail growth in developed markets, bringing some focus back to the demand side of the ledger. Annual oil demand growth proceeded... Continue Reading →
Back to House of Cards – Brazil party set to abandon Rousseff, eyes presidency
Brazil's largest party will decide on Tuesday to break away from President Dilma Rousseff's floundering coalition, party leaders said, sharply raising the odds she will be impeached amid a corruption scandal. The fractious Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) will decide at its national leadership meeting on the pace of disengagement from the Rousseff administration, in... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 