Latin American governments on Sunday selected Brazilian economist Ilan Goldfajn to lead the region’s largest development bank in the wake of a misconduct probe that led to the firing of the previous president, the Associated Press reported. Governors from the Inter-American Development Bank’s 48 members selected Goldfajn to lead the Washington-based multilateral lender from a slate of five candidates nominated by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago.

Brazil's consumer prices returned to positive territory in the month to mid-October after two consecutive drops, government statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday, ahead of a key central bank policy-setting meeting, Reuters reported. The IPCA-15 consumer price index came in ahead of expectations with a 0.16% increase, but economists do not expect the central bank to resume interest rate hikes at its meeting on Wednesday. In September, the Copom monetary policy committee chose to keep interest rates unchanged at 13.75%, pausing an aggressive monetary tightening cycle even as U.S.

Brazil's Nubank on Wednesday announced plans to release its own cryptocurrency as part of a new customer rewards program, Reuters reported. Warren Buffett-backed Nubank said in a statement the Nucoin digital currency is expected to be launched in the first half of 2023. Its goal is to offer customers benefits such as discounts and perks as they accumulate Nucoins.

Economic activity in Brazil fell much more than expected in August, a central bank index showed on Monday, confirming expectations of a slowdown in the second half, Reuters reported. The IBC-Br economic activity index, considered a leading indicator of gross domestic product, fell a seasonally adjusted 1.13% in August from July, more than double the 0.5% drop expected by economists polled by Reuters. In August, activity services growth once again beat expectations. The sector accounts for about 70% of the Brazilian economy and has been vital in the recovery after the pandemic.

Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has proposed a broad consumer debt renegotiation program backed by government guarantees, aimed at relief for lower-income families if he wins an Oct. 30 runoff election, a senior adviser said, Reuters reported. Economist Guilherme Mello, who is advising Lula's Workers Party, told Reuters the government would partially guarantee renegotiations of up to 95 billion reais ($18.2 billion) of non-bank debts such as power, water, retail and phone bills, for consumers earning up to 3,600 reais ($677) per month.

The share of foreign investors in Brazilian public debt fell in August to the lowest level in more than 12 years, official data showed on Wednesday, despite high yields on government bonds, Reuters reported. According to the Treasury, the share of foreigners in domestic public debt fell to 8.84% in August, from 9.01% in July, the lowest level since December 2009. This occurred despite high yields in government bonds amid an aggressive monetary tightening to battle inflation in Latin America's largest economy.

Outstanding loans in Brazil kept growing in August, according to central bank data on Wednesday, with credit showing robustness despite rising costs amid an aggressive monetary tightening, Reuters reported. Outstanding loans were up 1.6% in August from the month before to 5.067 trillion reais ($940.48 billion). In July, outstanding loans rose 0.6%, a figure that had not yet been released by the central bank, which is still normalizing its data after a strike by its employees earlier this year.

Brazil's central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto said that policymakers aren't focusing on monetary easing at the moment as the priority remains on bringing back inflation to the official target, Reuters reported. "We've been communicating that we don't look, don't think about falling interest rates at this moment," Campos Neto said late on Monday in a speech at an event hosted by the Valor Econômico newspaper. "We think about finishing the work. Finishing the work means converging inflation," he said.

Brazil's government debt fell to its lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic amid favorable fiscal data, central bank data showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The country's debt as a share of gross domestic product dropped to 77.6% in July, from 78% in June, the lowest figure since March 2020, when it reached 77.03%. At the peak of the spending spree to fight the pandemic, the indicator reached 89% of GDP.

Brazil posted a current account deficit of $3.5 billion in May, the worst result for the month in eight years, amid trade balance weakening, central bank figures showed on Friday, Reuters reported. A strong commodities producer, Brazil has seen its exports grow, but imports have increased at a faster pace, driven by higher prices for products such as fuel and fertilizers. In May, the trade balance surplus was $3.4 billion, down 53.3% over the same month last year.