The Brazilian real’s 4.5 percent tumble this week, the most among major currencies worldwide, has forecasters reviewing estimates after the government said it won’t meet fiscal targets. The real touched a 12-year low Friday, falling faster and farther than economists had predicted, after Finance Minister Joaquim Levy asked lawmakers to cut a key budget goal.... Continue Reading →
No Love for Brazil Budget Plan
Brazil traders see Finance Minister Joaquim Levy’s admission that the government won’t meet its fiscal goals as a bad omen. The real touched a 12-year low, while the Ibovespa led declines among major equity benchmarks after the government asked lawmakers to approve a reduction in its target for the budget surplus before interest payments. The move sparked... Continue Reading →
Oil Returns to Bear Market
Oil relapsed into a bear market in New York as resilient U.S. output, rising OPEC supply and threats to Chinese demand keep a global glut in place. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 1.5 percent Thursday to close at $48.45 a barrel. The grade has lost 21 percent in the past six weeks, meeting the common... Continue Reading →
Brazil Rating Firm Strips Country of Investment Grade
A local ratings firm stripped Brazil of its investment grade on Thursday, saying President Dilma Rousseff's new budget savings goals are insufficient to stabilize the country's growing debt burden. Austin Rating, which specializes in rating local financial institutions and companies, cut Brazil's foreign-currency debt to BB-plus, a level considered "junk," and the local-currency debt to... Continue Reading →
Brazil Budget Capitulation Sinks Currency
Brazil’s real led global declines as a contracting economy forced Finance Minister Joaquim Levy to dilute the government’s fiscal target, adding to concern that the nation is facing a credit downgrade. The real dropped 1.3 percent to 3.2646 per dollar at 9:17 a.m. in Sao Paulo, the weakest level on a closing basis since March... Continue Reading →
Brazil Reduces Budget Target
July 22, 2015 — 6:09 PM BRT Brazil will freeze an additional 8.6 billion reais ($2.7 billion) in spending and proposes to reduce the primary surplus target for its 2015 budget to 0.15 percent of gross domestic product, according to a government budget report. The government previously targeted a primary budget surplus, which excludes interest... Continue Reading →
Brazil Rating-Cut Angst on Budget Concern
Traders now have one more reason to expect a downgrade of Brazil’s credit rating. A press report saying President Dilma Rousseff will cut the primary budget surplus goal, which excludes interest payments, spurred the worst slide in the Americas for the Ibovespa. An earlier-than-estimated revision of the target is seen hurting the government’s credibility and... Continue Reading →
Reuters Exclusive: Brazil to slash fiscal surplus goal as downturn takes a toll
The Brazilian government will slash its key fiscal surplus goal for the year as tax revenues sink, but plans to unveil fresh spending cuts to show its commitment to austerity, two officials familiar with the decision told Reuters early on Wednesday. The reduction of the targeted primary surplus of 66.3 billion reais ($20.89 billion) or... Continue Reading →
Oil Debt Opportunism Rebuked by Aker ASA
Aker ASA, Norway’s biggest high-yield issuer, criticized bondholders it said risked eroding trust in the market by using lower oil prices as an excuse to demand excessively lucrative terms. Issuer efforts to relax loan terms as lower oil prices hurt cash flows are being met by unreasonable bondholder demands, according to Chief Executive Officer Oeyvind... Continue Reading →
Brazil Development Bank – BNDES, Investigated for Junk Rated Loans
A Brazilian prosecutor investigating the national development bank’s deals abroad said he estimates more than $2 billion in losses because of loans to junk-rated countries and builders accused in the nation’s sweeping corruption scandal. The prosecutor, who is assigned to Brazil’s budget watchdog, said the losses are tied to $12 billion of loans from a... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 