Brazil

Brazil's central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto said on Monday that policymakers believe inflation expectations should stabilize and improve over time, after recently citing concerns about them deviating from the official target, Reuters reported. "It is generally possible to be optimistic when we look at the reasons (for the unanchoring of inflation expectations)," he said at an event organized by the business group Lide in Sao Paulo.

Brazil's Superior Court of Justice has denied state-run oil company Petrobras an appeal against the collection of some 987 million reais ($192.68 million) in taxes, the company said late on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The taxes relate to sales of oil derivatives from March 2002 to October 2003, Petrobras said in a securities filing. The firm said it would assess whether a fresh appeal could be lodged against the decision. Read more.

Unigel, the struggling Brazilian fertilizer maker, obtained approval from a majority of creditors including Pacific Investment Management Co. for its out-of-court restructuring plan, Bloomberg News reported. Holders of more than 50% of its debt backed the proposal, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak about it. The company had until Monday to gather support from more than 50% of creditors and avoid a bankruptcy filing. Unigel didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Brazil's central bank announced on Monday that it has decided to divide the process of regulating crypto-assets and virtual asset service providers into phases, with regulatory proposals expected by the end of this year, Reuters reported. The decision effectively delays the completion of the process following a 2022 law on the subject, which paved the way for subsequent regulation by the central bank. In a congressional hearing last year, the bank's director of regulation, Otavio Damaso, had projected regulation to be wrapped up by June 2024.

Consolidation would lower the cost of capital for Latin American airlines, resulting in better services for customers, according to Azul SA Chief Executive Officer John Peter Rodgerson, Bloomberg News reported. “We’ve always been big believers in consolidation,” Rodgerson said in an interview in New York Wednesday. “The product improves for customers, and it could really strengthen a great market in Brazil that we’re seeing today.” Rodgerson declined to comment on “active” M&A processes.

Brazil’s central bank chief justified his decision to change the institution’s written guidance on interest rates during a public speech, one day after another board member said such a move should have been discussed with the whole board and communicated through more formal channels, Bloomberg News reported. Roberto Campos Neto made it clear during a speech in Washington last month that the bank may not make the additional half-point cut it had previously signaled in statements, opening the door for the smaller quarter-point reduction it delivered last week.

Brazil’s central bank said it unanimously sees more restrictive interest rates ahead as the institution tries to calm investors following a split policy decision that exposed rifts among its board members, Bloomberg News reported. “In the end, it was unanimously concluded that a more contractionary and more cautious monetary policy was needed,” central bankers wrote in minutes to their May 7-8 rate decision, when they cut the benchmark Selic rate by a quarter-point to 10.5%.

Brazil’s central bank said more restrictive rates are needed to fulfill its commitment to hitting the inflation target, according to the minutes to its split decision on borrowing costs that rattled investors, Bloomberg News reported. “In the end, it was unanimously concluded that a more contractionary and more cautious monetary policy was needed,” policymakers wrote in minutes to their May 7-8 rate decision, when they cut the benchmark Selic rate by a quarter-point to 10.5%.

Brazil Finance Minister Fernando Haddad rolled out a plan worth 50.9 billion reais ($9.9 billion) Thursday to help millions of people hit by floods in the nation’s south as investors keep a wary eye on public spending, Bloomberg News reported. The initial measures, which include subsidized credit from the federal government, will be directed to 3.5 million people including workers, social program beneficiaries and rural producers, as well as companies, states and municipalities, Haddad said.

The retail shakeout has reached Brazil, where local players are starting to restructure and consolidate amid stiff competition from foreign giants like Amazon.com Inc., MercadoLibre Inc. and Shein Group Ltd, Bloomberg News reported. Though e-commerce reshaped retailing in the US and Europe even before the pandemic, a confluence of economic, financial and logistical circumstance kept the South American nation insulated from the trend until later.