Brazilian auto exports are set to plunge by double digits in 2023 when compared with the previous year, automaker association Anfavea said on Friday, as a severe economic crisis in neighboring Argentina hits shipments to that country, Reuters reported. The association said in a statement it now projects exports to fall 12.7% in 2023 to 420,000 vehicles, a major cut from its previous estimate of a 2.9% drop in the period. "Exports have been the major warning point for the automotive sector in the first nine months of the year," it said.

Brazil is bringing an urgent message to next week’s meetings of the International Monetary Fund: Western-backed lenders must give developing nations more say if they want to remain relevant, Bloomberg News reported. A major redistribution of IMF quotas to correct the underrepresentation of large emerging-market economies has been a decades-old demand from Brazil and other key developing countries, but the price of inaction is growing higher, according to Tatiana Rosito, international affairs secretary at the Brazilian Finance Ministry.

Industrial production in Brazil rose slightly less than expected in August, data from government statistics agency IBGE showed on Tuesday, as the sector struggles to gather speed amid high interest rates, Reuters reported. Output was up 0.4% in August from July, IBGE said, recovering part of the losses seen a month earlier but below forecasts as the median estimate in a Reuters poll projected an increase of 0.5%.

Brazil’s Senate approved legislation to limit the growth of credit card debt to 100% of its original amount, an attempt to cap interest rates that currently average nearly 450%, Bloomberg News reported. Lawmakers passed the bill by acclamation Monday, a day before the expiration of a provisional measure that included the cap. The lower house of congress approved the bill in September, meaning it is now on track to become law. Once it is enacted, credit card issuers will have 90 days to submit their own regulatory proposal that will need authorization from Brazil’s national monetary council.

Brazil's jobless rate dropped for the fifth consecutive rolling quarter in the three months ended in August, reaching its lowest since early 2015 as the labor market in Latin America's largest economy continues to show resilience, Reuters reported. The unemployment rate reached 7.8% in the quarter through August, statistics agency IBGE said on Friday, in line with market expectations and down from the 7.9% seen in the previous rolling quarter.

Brazil’s central bank raised its 2023 economic growth forecast while warning of a looming drop-off in activity next year as monetary policy remains tight, Bloomberg News reported. The bank forecasts gross domestic product will expand 2.9% this year, more than the 2% growth estimate from June, according to its quarterly inflation report published on Thursday. It sees activity growing 1.8% next year. By comparison, analysts surveyed by the monetary authority have raised their GDP estimates to 2.92% for 2023 and 1.5% in 2024.

Brazil's central bank governor Roberto Campos Neto on Wednesday said policymakers are aiming to tighten cryptocurrency regulation and subject brokerages to their supervision, Reuters reported. Speaking during a hearing in Congress, Campos Neto emphasized regulators will scrutinize the backing of cryptocurrencies and associated activities, given the significant surge in cryptocurrency imports by Brazilians. Data released by the central bank this week revealed cryptocurrency imports jumped by 44.2% from January to August compared to the same period last year, totaling $7.4 billion.

Brazil's annual inflation accelerated in mid-September to 5.00%, data from statistics agency IBGE showed on Tuesday, coming in line with market expectations as the central bank signals it will maintain its current pace of monetary easing, Reuters reported. Analysts believe inflation in Latin America's largest economy has already reached its lowest for the year while remaining relatively under control, allowing the monetary authority to keep lowering borrowing costs.

Latin America’s largest water utility is getting ready for a public share sale next year that would see Sao Paulo’s state government give up control, according to the company’s chief executive officer, Bloomberg News reported. Cia. de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo, known as Sabesp, has a “potential window” for the equity offering starting in mid-May, after Sabesp publishes its first-quarter financial results, and running until mid-August, Andre Salcedo said in an interview.

Brazil’s development bank BNDES plans to provide 20 billion reais ($4.1 billion) in funds for infrastructure projects this year, two-thirds more than in 2022 and mostly through the purchase of local debt issued by companies that invest in the sector, Bloomberg News reported. The strategy is aimed at encouraging private investors to join in the purchase of infrastructure bonds, increasing the impact of financing by BNDES, according to Felipe Borim Villen, deputy managing director of infrastructure at the bank.