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 Real Rises as Central Banker Sees Higher Interest Rates
Brazil’s real climbed for the first time in four days as a central bank official said policy makers should keep raising interest rates, making the nation’s assets more attractive to global investors. The currency led regional gains as Tony Volpon, the bank’s risk-management director, said 2016 inflation expectations need to drop to the official target... Continue Reading →
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1720 GMT
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1720 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change MSCI Emerging Markets 934.47 -0.77 -1.53 MSCI LatAm 2,426.18 -0.92 -10.23 Brazil Bovespa 51,819.92 -1 3.62 Mexico IPC 45,593.09 0.59 5.67 Chile IPSA 3918.15 0.46 1.74 Chile IGPA 19,035.25 0.41 0.87 Argentina MerVal 12,183.85 -1.56 42.02... Continue Reading →
Oil Prices Hurt Currencies
Crude oil’s worst run in four months is hurting more than just commodity traders. Currencies from the Norwegian krone to Brazil’s real are tumbling as investors revise economic growth expectations for petroleum-exporting nations. Mexico’s peso slumped to its weakest since a 1993 revaluation, while the Canadian dollar fell to a six-year low. Read More
Brazil’s sovereign wealth fund to sell stake of state bank to meet fiscal plan
Brazil’s sovereign wealth fund has started reducing its stake in Banco do Brasil SA as the government prepares to possibly tap the fund to help meet its fiscal target, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Shares dropped the most on the Ibovespa index. The sovereign fund sold 1 million shares of Banco... Continue Reading →
Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management will extend the loan to OAS
A Brazilian court approved a debtor-in-possession loan to engineering firm OAS SA, the company said, after it earlier this year filed for bankruptcy protection in the wake of a corruption investigation that shut its access to refinancing. In a statement published late on Tuesday, OAS said judge Daniel Carnio Costa freed up the so-called DIP... Continue Reading →
