Brazil's central bank announced tougher rules for fintechs on Friday, saying that payment institutions will be subject to regulations based on their size and complexity and raising standards for required capital, Reuters reported. The new framework, which will start taking effect in January 2023 with full implementation by January 2025, will extend the proportionality of regulatory requirements currently used for conglomerates of financial institutions to include financial conglomerates led by payment institutions.

Brazil's government is planning to allow port costs to be excluded from tax calculations to lower the cost of imports, three Economy Ministry sources told Reuters, in a measure backed by the country's industry lobby. At the same time the government is mulling cutting the tax levied on shipping freight, two of the officials said. The moves are prompted by the surge in commodity prices and higher shipping costs caused by the war in Ukraine.

Brazil's economy expanded 0.5% in the three months to December, government statistics agency IBGE said on Friday, resulting in a 4.6% expansion of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, Reuters reported. The growth from the previous quarter was higher than the 0.1% forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. The 1.6% expansion over the fourth quarter of 2020 was also larger than the 1.1% rise projected.

Brazilian miner Vale SA will sign on Friday an agreement with local authorities in which it must pay 236.7 million reais ($46.0 million) for failing to meet a legal deadline to decommission its tailings dams in the state of Minas Gerais, a document seen by Reuters showed. According to the draft agreement, struck with the Minas Gerais state prosecutors, the company will also undertake a series of obligations to remove all of its upstream tailing dams.

Samarco Mineracao on Wednesday presented a new debt restructuring proposal it hopes can win the support of creditors at a meeting on March 10 and help take the Brazilian iron ore miner out of bankruptcy, Reuters reported. Creditors of the joint venture between Vale SA and BHP Group had been expected to vote on Wednesday on the latest proposals to restructure some $5 billion in debt. But due to a lack of quorum, the meeting was rescheduled, Samarco said in a statement.

Brazil's federal public debt grew 0.05% in January from December to 5.616 trillion reais ($1.12 trillion), the Treasury said on Wednesday, with interest rates rising as the central bank tightens monetary policy to fight double-digit inflation, Reuters reported. The average interest rate on the domestic federal debt increased to 8.9% in January from 8.49% in December, the Treasury said, and the average rate on the new domestic debt issued in the 12 months to January rose to 8.92% from 8.75%.

Samarco Mineracao faces a possible creditor standoff at a meeting which has been scheduled for March 10 to vote on debt restructuring proposals which would allow the Brazilian iron ore miner to exit bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported. Creditors of the iron ore joint venture between Vale SA and BHP Group were expected to vote on Wednesday on the latest proposals to restructure some $5 billion in financial debt. But due to a lack of quorum, the meeting was rescheduled, Samarco said in a statement.

Economic activity in Brazil rose 4.5% in 2021, a central bank index showed on Friday, rebounding from a record downturn the year before, when the coronavirus pandemic ravaged Latin America's largest economy, Reuters reported. The IBC-BR economic activity index, a leading indicator of gross domestic product (GDP), grew a seasonally adjusted 0.33% in December from November, and rose 1.3% from December 2020. Brazil's GDP shrank 3.9% in 2020, its worst year on record. The Economy Ministry has estimated GDP growth of 5.1% in 2021, while the central bank has forecast 4.4% growth.

The owner of two strategic soy crushing plants in southern Brazil has appealed to the country’s antitrust body for a probe into a signed supply deal between U.S.-based grains trader Bunge and brewer Cervejaria Petropolis which is leasing the facilities, Reuters reported. In documents filed with regulator CADE late on Monday, the plants owner Imcopa said the deal falls foul of antitrust laws because the parties involved were already working together to implement it before they sought CADE’s approval.

Brazil's central bank still has further interest rate hikes to make as inflation remains in double digits, Monetary Policy Director Bruno Serra said on Wednesday, reinforcing policymakers' will to extend aggressive monetary tightening, Reuters reported. During an online event hosted by Modalmais bank, Serra said that considering current risks, especially those related to the country's fiscal prospects, 2023 inflation is now seen above the target, forcing authorities to keep a hawkish stance. "The battle is still far from won, we still have double-digit inflation.