Unable to sell such assets as its retail outlets and its online domain, Brazil’s Sarava Libraries suffered a new setback in its judicial recovery plan and risks declaring bankruptcy, Lodi Valley News reported. After an action by one of its creditors, technology company Infosys, which questioned the retailer’s plan filed in March, the court has now decided that Sarava will file a new proposal within 30 days, under pain of filing for bankruptcy. However, a few days before this decision the company had already made an adjustment to the plan and is contemplating the failure to sell the assets.
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Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes on Friday outlined a rosier outlook for Latin America's largest economy in 2022, predicting a "robust" GDP growth and inflation meeting its target, Reuters reported. "I have a constructive and positive view that we're going to post a robust growth next year," he said. Market participants see GDP growth at mere 1.93%, according to a central bank survey released last week. In an event hosted by Credit Suisse, Guedes said inflation is likely to be at 5% next year, the upper part of a range.
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Brazil Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Monday he agrees with the solution proposed by the president of the Supreme Court, Luiz Fux, for payment of court-awarded debt owed by the government, Reuters reported. The Supreme Court proposed last week that instead of paying the debt in installments, the government make sure the volume of payments does not exceed the budget spending ceiling. The proposal would reduce by around 50 billion reais ($9.6 billion) the total amount the government would have to pay next year.
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A majority of Brazil’s Supreme Court justices have voted to uphold the constitutionality of a law granting the central bank formal autonomy, a key piece of legislation considered by investors as a victory for monetary policy making in Latin America’s largest economy, Bloomberg News reported. Eight justices voted in support of the law on Thursday, and two against.
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Brazil's Supreme Court will debate on Wednesday whether a law to establish the autonomy of the central bank, insulating it from political interference, is constitutional or not, Reuters reported. The law does not change the way the bank sets interest rates but distances it from politics by setting fixed four-year terms for its governor and directors that will no longer coincide with the presidential election cycle. Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro signed the measure into law in February, but two left-wing parties have questioned whether it violates the country's constitution.
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Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has begun expressing irritation at the central bank’s newfound autonomy as surging inflation presents a threat to his 2022 reelection prospects, government officials told The Associated Press. On Thursday, during a flight home from Mato Grosso state, Bolsonaro said that he regretted signing the bill into law earlier this year that granted the bank autonomy, a high-level official aboard told the AP.
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Brazilian prosecutors asked a bankruptcy court on Wednesday to compel miners Vale SA and BHP Group Ltd to fully pay offtheir Samarco joint venture's 50.7 billion reais ($9.47 billion) debt, according to a court document reviewed by Reuters. Samarco filed for bankruptcy protection in April as it struggled to restructure its debt, which it stopped servicing after a dam burst at a mine in 2015, killing 19 people, releasing a giant torrent of sludge and halting production.
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Swiss-Irish food group Aryzta has agreed a new €500 million revolving credit facility with three banks and has announced the disposal of its Brazilian businesses, the Irish Times reported. No financial details have been disclosed on the sale of the Brazilian subsidiaries to Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV. The transaction is expected to close shortly. Aryzta said the new credit facility, which is expected to be used by early October, is underwritten by Credit Suisse, Rabobank and UBS. It replaces the group’s current €800 million facility, which maters in September 2022.
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The superintendence of Brazil's competition regulator Cade said on Friday that it viewed an asset sale by Brazilian telecom Oi SA as "complex," suggesting that TIM, Telefônica Brasil and América Móvil's Claro may struggle to wrap up a quick sale, Reuters reported. The three companies won an auction to buy Oi's mobile network operations for 16.5 billion reais ($3.17 billion) in December, pending regulatory approval, after Oi filed for bankruptcy protection in 2016.
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Creditors of bankrupt miner Samarco Mineracao SA, a joint venture between Vale SA and BHP Group Plc, objected to the company's restructuring plan on Thursday, according to a court document, Reuters reported. Creditors said the plan's main goal is to protect Samarco's giant shareholders, Vale and BHP, and reduce future payments to creditors. They also rejected Samarco's offer to apply an 85% haircut to all creditors, including shareholders Vale and BHP, which extended 24 billion reais in loans to the company. Debt payments to creditors would occur in 2041.