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Even in Brazil, a country that is no stranger to crisis, the recent, rapid-fire succession of financial, economic and political blows has been breathtaking. After a week in which the nation’s top young financier was thrown in jail alongside a senator -- pushing his bank into a struggle for survival -- and Goldman Sachs Group... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s central bank signaled it’s ready to boost borrowing costs early next year as higher political and economic uncertainties threaten to keep inflation above its target for longer than initially expected. The monetary committee will adopt the necessary measures to ensure inflation "will be as close as possible to 4.5 percent in 2016” and “converges... Continue Reading →
All across the Americas, drilling rigs are being idled as oil prices hover near six-year lows. In Colombia, more than 57 percent have been pulled; in Mexico, 42 percent. Then there’s Venezuela. Starved for hard currency needed to ease a crushing recession and struggling to shore up slumping output, the state oil giant known as... Continue Reading →
Total debt at Petroleos Mexicanos may rise to more than $100 billion in 2016 as the state-run oil producer plans to issue more debt amid a slump oil prices and continued production declines. Pemex, as the world’s eighth-largest oil producer is known, estimates it will borrow $21 billion in 2016, with as much as $20... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff will face impeachment proceedings in Congress, according to lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha. Cunha told reporters in Brasilia on Wednesday he "profoundly regrets" what’s happening. "May our country overcome this process," he said. The impeachment process could take months, involving several votes in Congress that ultimately may result in the president’s... Continue Reading →
A week after the arrest of Brazil’s billionaire Andre Esteves, the lack of guidance from Brazilian authorities on the future of his troubled investment bank BTG is exacerbating investors’ nervousness. Since Esteves was detained on Nov.25 the only official statement from the central bank the same day was that it is monitoring the situation and... Continue Reading →
Brazil’s real fluctuated amid speculation President Dilma Rousseff will fail to gather congressional support to approve the country’s fiscal target, which is key to avoiding a forced government spending shutdown. The government is trying to change this year’s fiscal target, allowing it to end the year with a primary deficit of 119 billion reais ($31 billion).... Continue Reading →
As if political turmoil, commodity-price meltdown and growth hiccups aren’t enough, emerging markets face a threat to their creditworthiness from an entirely different area -- the burgeoning debt of households and companies. Private-sector borrowing as a proportion of gross domestic product will reach 77 percent by the end of this year in seven large developing... Continue Reading →
Latin America’s largest economy shrank more than analysts forecast, as rising unemployment and higher inflation sapped domestic demand, pulling the nation deeper into recession. Gross domestic product in Brazil contracted 1.7 percent in the three months ended in September, after a revised 2.1 percent drop the previous quarter, the national statistics institute said in Rio... Continue Reading →
Transocean Ltd., the biggest offshore-rig operator, won a contract to drill four wells off Norway for Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA at a day rate of about $180,000, the lowest recorded tariff in the Nordic country since oil began to tumble last year. “It’s a clear sign of desperation and how bad it’s become,” Janne Kvernland, an... Continue Reading →
Brazil Energy Insight 