By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s political leaders are divided on President Dilma Rousseff’s new stance on how states share oil royalties. Last week her comments, which favored oil-producing states and warned against reneging on contracts that had already been signed, received a hostile reception from nearly 4,000 mayors gathered [...]
By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In just over a month, the UN’s biggest ever international event on sustainable development, Rio+20, is set to bring together global leaders in Brazil to agree on specific goals and actions. The conference is an important moment for Rio, hosting a major international event, [...]
By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit says that Brazil is among the worst at coping with the language barrier of the English-speaking world of business, and that deals are being hindered because of it. Experts are warning that, with increased international interest in businesses based [...]
By Stephen Eisenhammer, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Brazil’s finance minister, Guido Mantega, reiterated his opinion Monday that the appreciating U.S. dollar will increase the competitiveness of Brazilian industry. Speaking at the finance ministry, Mantega said that the current exchange rate, just under US$1 to R$2, allowed local products to remain cheaper than [...]
By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian government has made changes to the way in which the annual rate of interest is calculated on new deposits to the country’s national savings program. Analysts are explaining the move as a way for Brazil to reduce its benchmark interest rate, the [...]
By Nathan M. Walters, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Economist, a weekly English-language publication is also responsible for organizing a series of conferences that take the ideas from the magazine and discuss them in the flesh. “The Ideas Economy” is a series of events organized by the publication throughout the world [...]
By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The dollar ended with a fall of 0.67 percent on Thursday, after closing high five sessions in a row. However, it still closed relatively high against the Brazilian Real, at R$1.91. The main Stock Exchange index in São Paulo, Brazil’s economic powerhouse – the Bovespa [...]
By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – An investigation by the Polícia Federal (Federal Police) has found links between Brazilian construction giant Delta Construção, who walked out on the Transcarioca Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) consortium last week, and the now infamous Carlinhos Cachoeira (Waterfall) – the businessman at the center of [...]
By Ben Tavener, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Banco do Brasil (Bank of Brazil, BB) announced yesterday that it would be reducing interest rates on personal and corporate loans. The new rates will take effect on Monday, April 23rd, and will be second cut in the rates this month. According to the [...]
By Sarah de Sainte Croix, Senior Contributing Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Out of the world’s five major high-growth economies – Brazil, China, India, Mexico and Russia – Brazil is ranked the most expensive country to do business in, according to a recent report. The 2012 Competitive Alternatives survey, released by KPMG International, compares [...]
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