Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced on Friday a 12 billion reais ($2.21 billion) debt renegotiation package aimed at supporting up to 100,000 agricultural producers, primarily small and medium-sized farmers affected by recent climate events, Reuters reported. The measure comes as Brazil's largest state-run bank, Banco do Brasil faces record default levels in its agribusiness portfolio, threatening the stability of the country's crucial agricultural sector.

Brazil's economy lost momentum in the second quarter but still outperformed market expectations, driven by resilient services activity and gains in the extractive industry, official data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Gross domestic product in Latin America's largest economy grew 0.4% in the April-to-June period from the previous quarter, statistics agency IBGE said. That reading marked a steep slowdown from the revised 1.3% growth reported for the first quarter, when seasonal farm output boosted performance in the agricultural powerhouse.

Brazil's central bank is not competing with financial or payment institutions through its operation and regulation of the widely used instant payments system Pix, said Renato Gomes, the institution's financial system organization director, Reuters reported. In remarks released by the central bank on Wednesday, Gomes said the institution "plays the role of a neutral agent, providing a public digital infrastructure that allows the market to develop more efficiently, inclusively and competitively." Pix is among the Brazilian trade practices under formal investigation by U.S.

Brazil's central bank is still assessing whether the benchmark interest rate at 15% is appropriate to bring inflation down to its 3% target, economic policy director Diogo Guillen said on Monday, Reuters reported. Policymakers kept rates unchanged in late July at a near 20-year high after 450 basis points in hikes since last September. They signaled borrowing costs would remain steady for a "very prolonged" period. Guillen stressed that the guidance signaled more rate holds. "We are still evaluating whether this is the appropriate rate to bring inflation to target," he said.

Brazil’s banking sector has been grappling with a sharp rise in defaults in agribusiness in recent months. Despite expectations for record corn production and a strong soybean harvest in 2025, a mix of pressures has worsened financial stress across the sector. The downturn began with falling commodity prices, which squeezed margins of highly leveraged farmers who had borrowed when Brazil’s Selic rate was at historic lows in 2020 and 2021.

Brazil is engaged in a "constructive dialogue" with Canada to resume negotiations for a free trade agreement between South America's Mercosur bloc and Ottawa, the Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretary said, Reuters reported. Canadian officials are due to visit Brazil in late August, according to Tatiana Prazeres, Brazil's Foreign Trade Secretary, who shared details of the visit in a written response to Reuters this week.

A Rio de Janeiro court suspended the enforceability of obligations set out in Oi SA’s judicial recovery plan in Brazil, opening the way for the company to potentially seek a chapter 11 filing in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported. The court’s decision prevents the imposition of any liens or claims on the troubled Brazilian telecom operator’s assets from Aug. 13 to Aug. 31, the filing reads. It also required the company to present a transition plan to ensure the continuity of its public services.

Brazilian miner Samarco, a joint venture between Vale and BHP, has received approval from a court in Minas Gerais state to exit bankruptcy protection proceedings, it said in a statement on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The process allowed Samarco to reorganize more than 50 billion reais ($9.28 billion) in liabilities involving around 10,000 creditors, the statement said.

The Brazilian government on Wednesday unveiled a plan to support local exporters affected by a 50% tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on several products from the South American nation, the Associated Press reported. Dubbed “Sovereign Brazil," the plan provides for a credit lifeline of 30 billion reais ($5.5 billion), among other measures. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described the plan, which includes a bill to be sent to Congress, as a first step to help local exporters.

Brazil's government believes the economy is starting to feel the effects of high interest rates and will closely monitor data to see if those impacts are "wider than initially expected," Economic Policy Secretary Guilherme Mello said on Friday, Reuters reported. Brazil's central bank last week held its benchmark rate at 15%, the highest in almost two decades, pausing an aggressive tightening cycle after seven consecutive hikes aimed at fighting sticky inflation, which should cool down economic activity.