Brazil's beleaguered President Dilma Rousseff shrank her cabinet and reshuffled ministers on Friday to bolster alliances within her coalition government and block efforts to impeach her. Rousseff named former defense minister Jacques Wagner, a political heavyweight, as her chief of staff and put one additional cabinet post, the health ministry, under control of the PMDB,... Continue Reading →

A group of lawmakers called for the resignation of the speaker of Brazil's lower house of Congress Eduardo Cunha on Thursday after Switzerland provided Brazilian prosecutors with details of Swiss bank accounts in his name. Cunha, who has been charged with corruption and money laundering in Brazil's largest-ever bribery and political kickback scandal, refused to... Continue Reading →

Brazil’s real weakened the most among emerging-market currencies after lawmakers approved amendments to a retirement bill that would boost government spending, dealing a blow to efforts to shore up the country’s finances. The real dropped 0.7 percent to 3.9748 per dollar at 12:18 p.m. in Sao Paulo, ending two days of gains. The real is down... Continue Reading →

Brazil’s central bank will consider a marginal increase in interest rates if the government fails to shore up fiscal accounts, said a member of President Dilma Rousseff’s economic team. Policy makers still expect Rousseff to implement tax increases and spending cuts that will reverse a projected budget deficit before interest payments into a surplus next... Continue Reading →

Default on the Brazilian electric energy market has spread to critical levels, energy traders said on Tuesday, as hydroelectric generators balk at hefty bills for which the local regulator says they are on the hook. After nearly two years of drought and long delays in completion of new generation projects such as large scale dams... Continue Reading →

Brazil's financial markets rose on Wednesday, with the Bovespa stock index boosted by a fuel price increase at state-run oil firm Petrobras and the currency up on a potential shake-up in President Dilma Rousseff's cabinet. Other Latin American financial markets rose as well as investors took advantage of historic lows in asset prices. Preferred and... Continue Reading →

Rousseff's Approval at Record Low in Brazil as Economy Slips Carla Simoes Raymond Colitt/Bloomberg September 30, 2015 — 10:26 AM BRT Dilma Rousseff’s popularity remained at a record low in an Ibope public opinion survey as the Brazilian president seeks support to fend off impeachment attempts and to approve austerity measures needed to shore up... Continue Reading →

Brazil’s real headed for its first back-to-back gain in three weeks as the state-controlled oil company said it would raise fuel prices, signaling that policy makers may need to lift interest rates further to combat inflation. One-month implied volatility was the highest in emerging markets as the currency advanced 1.9 percent to 3.985 per dollar... Continue Reading →

Brazil’s central government primary budget deficit shrank last month, beating estimates made by analysts who expected fiscal accounts to deteriorate. The gap, which excludes interest payments as well as municipalities and government-run companies, was 5.1 billion reais ($1.3 billion) in August, Brazil’s Treasury reported Tuesday. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was... Continue Reading →