Latest news with #Brasilía
Reuters
20 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Brazil's poultry exports fell in May, hit by bird flu case
BRASILIA, June 5 (Reuters) - Brazil's poultry exports fell in both value and volume in May from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday, as trade restrictions following a bird flu case weighed on the sector. Herlon Brandao, director of Statistics and Foreign Trade Studies at the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, said at a press conference that poultry exports had been on the rise before the outbreak, the first on a commercial farm in Brazil. In May, poultry exports fell 12.9% to $655 million, while volumes declined 14.4% to about 363,100 metric tons.
Reuters
21 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Brazil's May trade surplus lands below expectations as import growth persists
BRASILIA, June 5 (Reuters) - Brazil posted a smaller-than-expected trade surplus in May, government data showed on Thursday, as imports continued to show strong momentum. The monthly surplus fell 12.8% from a year earlier to $7.2 billion, missing the $8.3 billion forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. Amid resilient economic activity in Latin America's largest economy, imports rose 4.7% to $22.9 billion, driven by higher volumes which offset lower prices. Exports, meanwhile, ticked down 0.1% year-over-year to $30.2 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services. A drop in commodity prices weighed on Brazil's main export products, including soybeans, oil and iron ore, undermining gains in shipped volumes. Year-to-date, Brazil's trade surplus has plunged 30.6% from the same period in 2024 to $24.4 billion, reflecting a growing import trend and a slight decline in exports.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Lula expands Brazil's affirmative action quotas for Indigenous and Black communities
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday signed a new law to expand the country's affirmative action policies, increasing the quota for government jobs reserved for Blacks from 20% to 30% and adding Indigenous people and descendants of Afro- Brazilian enslaved people as beneficiaries. The changes apply to candidates applying for permanent and public employment positions across Brazil's federal administration, agencies, public foundations, public companies and state-run mixed-capital companies. As approved by Congress, the quota will be revised in 2035. 'It is important to allow this country for one day to have a society reflected in its public offices, in the Prosecutors' Office, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Attorney-General's Office, in the Internal Revenue Service, everywhere,' Lula said at the presidential palace in the capital, Brasilia. 'We still have few women, few Black people, almost no Indigenous people." Brazil's first law on racial quotas for government jobs was approved in 2014 by then President Dilma Rousseff, and it extended to public administration positions an affirmative action policy that was in place for access to state-run universities. Brazil's government said in a statement that Blacks and mixed-race people held 25% of top government jobs in 2014, a figure that rose to 36% in 2024. 'Still, Black people are under-represented in the public service and hold lower-wage positions," the government added. Management and Innovation Minister Esther Dweck said the new law was needed due to a low number of new government jobs being opened for candidates in the last decade, when the previous quota was in place. 'We could not reverse the scenario of low representation (for minorities) in the public service," Dweck said in a speech Tuesday. Brazil's government said 55% of the country's population is made up of Black or mixed-race people. It added that more than 70% of Brazilians living below the poverty line are also Black or mixed race, while only 1% of people from those ethnicities are in leadership positions in the private sector. ____
Times of Oman
3 days ago
- General
- Times of Oman
"Terror has no place in our countries": All-party delegation member Shashi Tharoor on Colorado "terror attack"
Brasilia: All-party delegation leader and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday said Members of the Indian MPs' delegation learnt with concern about the terror attack in Colorado and were relieved that there was no loss of life. In a post on X, Tharoor said that the MPs share the Secretary of State Marco Rubio's view that 'terror has no place' in our countries." "Members of the Indian MPs' delegation learnt with concern about the terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, today. We are relieved there was no loss of life. We all share the Secretary of State Marco Rubio's view that 'terror has no place' in our countries," the Congress MP said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged a 45-year-old man, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, with carrying out a "targeted terror attack" that occurred in Colorado's Boulder on Sunday, where several peaceful Israeli supporters were burned, Fox News reported. The FBI said six people aged between 67 and 88 years were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. According to Boulder Police Department (BPD) Chief Steve Redfearn, officers were called to the county courthouse on Pearl Street at about 1:26 pm (local time) for reports of a man who had a weapon, setting people on fire, Fox News reported. According to the BPD and the FBI, Soliman, who was shouting "Free Palestine" during the attack, was arrested at the spot. FBI deputy director Dan Bongino said the attack is being probed as an act of "ideologically motivated violence" on the basis of early information, evidence and witness accounts. The incident occurred near an event organised by "Run for Their Lives", a grassroots organisation that facilitates global run and walk events demanding the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). FBI Director Kash Patel said that the agency is investigating a "targeted terror attack" in Boulder, Colorado. In a post on X, Patel stated, "We are aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado. Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available." The delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is presently in Brazil and will head to the US tomorrow.
Reuters
29-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Brazil economic team to present alternative to tax hike, no defined solution so far
SAO PAULO/BRASILIA, May 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's government has agreed to present an alternative plan to the increase in the IOF tax on financial transactions in 10 days, lower house speaker Hugo Motta said on Thursday in a post on X. The controversial measure signed last week by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to raise revenue, and thereby limit an already substantial spending freeze aimed at meeting this year's fiscal rules, triggered intense backlash after it immediately drove up the cost of credit for companies, contributions to pension funds and some foreign exchange operations. Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron said at a press conference that there is still no defined solution and that discussions are yet to take place. Ceron stressed, nonetheless, that without the IOF hike, "we have a very complex situation" in which to fund vital public policies. "(Congress') desire is to create a more definitive solution," Ceron said, adding that there is now a sense of openness to structural discussions with lawmakers who, in the past, might not have been willing to engage. Lula's leftist administration has repeatedly emphasized its focus on rebalancing public accounts by eliminating tax distortions and what it sees as unjustified tax benefits, rather than cutting spending, which has notably increased since he took office. However, several measures aimed at curbing tax expenditures sent to Congress have either been significantly watered down or have not even begun moving through the legislative process. Motta earlier said that the Brazilian Congress is likely to overturn the government proposal to increase the tax on financial transactions if a legislative decree on the matter reaches the voting agenda. "The mood in both (congressional) houses is to overturn the measure," he told news outlet G1. Congress is willing to discuss reforms, Motta told G1, adding that he believes the government has resorted to maneuvers to increase revenue. "There is exhaustion in the Congress with measures that increase taxes, aim to raise revenue without structural discussion," he said.
