When Brazil revises its 2015 budget estimates Wednesday afternoon, the question investors will be asking is how much more spending can be cut without deepening an economic recession. Tax revenue has dropped below government estimates this year as the economy slows amid austerity measures designed to mend the worst budget deficit on record, and rate... Continue Reading →
Reuters – Swiss Petrobras investigation widens to include Odebrecht
Reuters - Swiss Petrobras investigation widens to include Odebrecht GENEVA, JULY 22 The Swiss Attorney General's office has widened a corruption investigation into Brazilian oil firm Petrobras to include construction company Odebrecht SA and other associated entities, it said on Wednesday, confirming a report in the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper. "Subsidiaries of Odebrecht are suspected... Continue Reading →
Halliburton Facing Anti Trust Hurdles Over Baker Hughes
Halliburton Co.’s takeover of Baker Hughes Inc. is facing resistance from U.S. enforcement officials who are concerned the tie-up could hurt competition, according to a person familiar with the matter. Justice Department lawyers reviewing the proposed $34.6 billiontransaction are worried that the oilfield services industry would become too concentrated after a combination of its No.... Continue Reading →
Brazil June Current Account Deficit Wider Than Forecast
Brazil’s June current account deficit was wider than economists forecast, as imports fall amid an economic slowdown. The deficit in the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, narrowed in June to $2.5 billion from a revised $3.3 billion a month earlier, the central bank said in a report distributed today... Continue Reading →
The Political Novela in Brazil Adds New Episode
Vice President Michel Temer has become the Brazilian government’s Indispensable Man, its main buffer against the swirling turmoil that threatens to overwhelm President Dilma Rousseff and undermine her economic recovery program. Temer played that role most recently late last week as he kept the ruling coalition together by refusing to join the leader of Congress’s... Continue Reading →
The Long Arm of the Law – Portugal to help investigate Brazil’s “Car Wash” scandal
Portugal's prosecutor general has ordered investigators to look into a request from Brazilian authorities for help with a probe into a scandal involving state-run oil company Petrobras. A cartel of engineering firms, including Latin America's giant Odebrecht SA, is accused of fixing prices and overcharging Petrobras in a scheme that allegedly helped finance the 2014... Continue Reading →
Keeps getting worse – Rousseff Approval Rating Falls in Brazil Poll
President Dilma Rousseff’s approval rating fell in an MDA poll as the majority of respondents said Brazil’s economic contraction is their biggest concern. Read More
Fitch Affirms YPF S.A.’s IDRs at ‘CCC’
// Fitch Affirms YPF S.A.'s IDRs at 'CCC' July 20, 2015 03:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has affirmed the foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of YPF S.A. (YPF) at 'CCC' and 'B-', respectively. Fitch affirms the company's long-term international bond ratings at 'CCC' and assigns an 'RR4' recovery... Continue Reading →
Dilma’s Tightrope Ordeal
If Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff thought it was tough imposing austerity measures in the first half of the year, she may be in for some unpleasant surprises in the second. She has lost support from Senate Chief Renan Calheiros and his lower-house counterpart, Eduardo Cunha, amid growing discontent with a recession and a corruption probe... Continue Reading →
Exclusive: Peru sending prosecutors to Brazil as corruption probe goes regional
Peruvian prosecutors plan to visit Brazil this month to gather evidence of bribery on a transcontinental highway project, Peru's attorney general said in an interview, adding to regional fallout from the biggest corruption scandal in Brazil's history. The mission laid out by Peruvian Attorney General Pablo Sánchez is the most public sign yet of international... Continue Reading →
