Category: Macroeconomics
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Brazilian Retail Sales up 0.5% MoM in April
Brazilian retail sales volume in April increased 0.5% MoM but fell 6.7% YoY, both worse than market expectations, according to IBGE (Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics). Although in the monthly comparison, most of the sectors have recorded an increase, it was not enough to reverse the downwards trajectory, still visible in the annual comparison…
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Brazilian Steel Industry in Survival mode for the Foreseeable Future
The Brazilian steel industry has seem better days. If we look at the three stocks traded as ADRs in the NYSE, we can see the depth of their agony in the last ten years: Gerdau (NYSE:GGB): Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional – CSN (NYSE:SID): Usiminas (OTC:USNZY): In the 27th Brazilian Steel Congress, held by the Brazil Steel…
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What to Expect for Brazilian Interest Rate in 2016
Monetary Policy Committee (COPOM) has decided to keep the Brazilian interest rate benchmark in Brazil (SELIC) at 14.25% a year, unanimously. The central bank repeated the note issued with the previous decision, in which it says “we see advances in the inflation fighting but the still elevated cost of living and expectations are out of the target”.…
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Brazil mulls emergency loan to Rio de Janeiro ahead of Olympics
By Alonso Soto and Marcela Ayres BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil is considering an emergency loan to the cash-strapped state of Rio de Janeiro as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in less than two months, according to two senior government officials familiar with the situation. The loan would be guaranteed by the state’s participation…
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Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff is impeached
• The impeachment vote is still going on in the country’s lower house, but the ruling Workers Party has conceded defeat, reports Reuters. At the moment, of 412 votes cast, 307 have voted to impeach President Rousseff, and 101 have voted against. A total of 344 are needed to send the process over to the…
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El-Erian says Brazil in ‘delicate situation’
Mohamed El-Erian’s bet on Brazil before President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s election in 2002 was rewarded by a surge in the nation’s assets in the following years. More than a decade later, he says Latin America’s largest economy must seize the opportunity to undertake deep reforms.Brazil is facing the worst recession in a century…
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Brazil stocks, currency extend rally on former president charges
Brazil’s stocks and currency rose on Thursday, extending a recent rally fueled by hopes ofpolitical change after prosecutors charged former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a money laundering investigation. State investigators suspect the family of the former president, who was detained for questioning by federal police on Friday, owned an undeclared beachfront apartment in…
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Prospects abound despite Brazil crisis
Latin American countries are at the whim of the strengthening US dollar and the dire outlook for commodities prices. These factors go some way to explaining the underperformance of the region in the past year, but there are other factors weighing down sentiment.The MSCI Emerging Markets Latin America index lost 27 per cent in 2015,…
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China-Brazil infrastructure cooperation mutually beneficial
Infrastructure cooperation between China and Brazil is mutually beneficial and should be further strengthened, experts say.Brazil hopes to attract Chinese investment in highways, railways, ports, airports and other infrastructure projects, while the Chinese government regards infrastructure building key to bilateral cooperation, they say. “The Brazilian government can count on infrastructure investment as a way to…
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Brazil’s Inflation Unexpectedly Slows as Recession Bites
Brazilian inflation unexpectedly slowed last month, beating forecasts from all analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, as food prices rose less than in the previous month amid a deepening recession.The benchmark IPCA inflation index moderated to 0.96 percent in December from 1.01 percent in November, the national statistics agency said Friday. That compares to the median 1.05…