Latest news with #LisandraParaguassu
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Brazil government to defend bill cutting tax breaks by 10%, says sources
By Lisandra Paraguassu and Ricardo Brito BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil's government is expected to back a bill proposing a 10% cut to federal tax breaks as the main alternative to a controversial increase in the tax on financial transactions (IOF) proposed last month, two sources told Reuters on Thursday. The bill, which was proposed by lower house lawmaker Mauro Benevides, sets a 5% reduction in the value of tax benefits in 2025 and a further 5% cut in 2026, the proposal showed. The legislation also applies to fiscal and credit benefits. The tax cut breaks, however, will not include the Manaus free trade zone and non-profit entities, the proposal showed. Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said earlier this week that the government would unveil a new set of fiscal measures next week aimed at balancing public accounts, with their approval seen as crucial to revisiting a controversial IOF tax hike. The bill that government is expect to support also blocks the concessions or the renewing of tax, credit and fiscal federal benefits. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
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Plant of Coca-Cola maker suspended for potential contamination in Brazil
By Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) -A plant owned by Brazilian soft drink firm Solar, which produces for Coca-Cola, had a fault in its cooling system detected, leading production and bottling to be suspended as a precautionary measure, Brazil's government said on Wednesday. Production was halted after authorities established a liquid used in the cooling process had come in contact with products being manufactured, Brazil's agriculture ministry said, in reference to an on-site inspection of the plant in Ceara state. The liquid in question contains food-grade alcohol that does not pose a high health risk and does not contain toxic substances, the ministry added in a statement. All of the products that may have been compromised remain in the company's inventory, Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro told a press conference in Brasilia, adding that there was no risk that the affected products could have reached supermarkets. According to the ministry, the production suspension will be maintained until Solar enforces the necessary corrections and proves the elimination of all risks in the production process, which may occur as early as today. Samples from about 9 million liters of soft drinks await laboratory analysis, which should be concluded in five days, the ministry said. Solar and Coca-Cola did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
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Brazil plans to cut tax breaks, curb education spending in fiscal package, say sources
By Bernardo Caram and Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil's government is negotiating a package of fiscal measures with congressional leaders that includes cuts to tax exemptions and limits on the growth of transfers to an education fund, according to sources familiar with the talks. After initially signaling the measures would be unveiled on Tuesday, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said they would be disclosed only after further discussions with party leaders on Sunday. First reported by local newspaper Valor Economico and confirmed by three government sources who requested anonymity, the package is being prepared as an alternative to the controversial hike in the financial transactions tax (IOF) announced last week, which drew broad backlash from lawmakers and business sectors. The plan focuses heavily on reducing tax benefits, a longstanding target of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's leftist administration, said three sources. His economic team often criticizes the volume of tax exemptions that weaken public revenues, though previous attempts to roll them back have seen limited success in Congress. That includes a payroll tax break for companies, which remains in place without due compensation. One of the sources said the new package includes a proposed constitutional amendment that would establish rules to curb growth in transfers to the Fund for the Development of Basic Education. A similar initiative in last year's fiscal package was watered down by Congress, which blocked efforts to redirect more of the fund's resources to full-time education spending. The new measures aim to create fiscal space for the government to revise the recent IOF tax decree, which increased rates on a range of credit, foreign exchange, and pension transactions.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Brazilian drug lord imprisoned in Brasilia after arrest in Bolivia
By Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) -The leader of Brazilian organized crime syndicate PCC has been jailed in a maximum-security prison in Brasilia after his arrest in Bolivia over the weekend, officials in Brazil said on Monday. Drug-trafficker Marcos Roberto de Almeida, known as Tuta, was expelled from Bolivia after negotiations between the two countries so that Brazil could enforce his 12-year prison sentence for conspiracy, racketeering and money laundering, Brazil's minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, said. Almeida was arrested in Bolivia when he tried to renew his foreign registration using a false Brazilian document. He had been on the run for five years and Interpol had issued a notice for his arrest. Almeida was identified through biometrics after investigators cross-referenced the Federal Police and Interpol databases. The PCC leader was then handed over to the Federal Police in the border town of Corumba, from where he was taken to Brasilia in a police aircraft. Almeida is being held in the same federal penitentiary as another PCC leader, Marcos Camacho, known as Marcola, officials said, adding that there will be no contact between the two associates. "The penitentiary (in Brasilia) is the safest," said Lewandowski, referring to the Penitenciaria Federal de Brasilia. "There is no danger of contact between them and other gang members. Such contact is impossible."
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brazil seeks China trade boost amid Trump tariff chaos as Lula meets Xi
By Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva heads to Beijing this week to meet his counterpart Xi Jinping, seeking to tighten relations between the two nations while leveraging U.S. President Donald Trump's unpredictable trade policies to boost exports of grains, metals and meat to China. Lula's visit is expected to yield over a dozen deals and new investment announcements from grains to railways, said officials for the South American commodities giant. Brasilia hopes it can supply some goods the U.S. currently sends to China, which have become costlier following Beijing's tariffs in response to steep tariffs imposed by Trump. "It opens an opportunity, as the exports from the United States become unfeasible at this moment due to 145% tariffs," Luis Rua, who oversees foreign trade for Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, told Reuters. He said Brazil aimed to export more sorghum, pork and chicken to China, seizing market share. The U.S., he added, sends some 45% of the sorghum China imports, some 30% of the chicken and 16% of the pork. The four-day visit will be Lula's third face-to-face with Xi since the Brazilian president took office in 2023. Other leaders, including Chile's President Gabriel Boric and Colombia's Gustavo Petro, have also been visiting Beijing for meetings between Chinese officials and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC. The Lula-Xi summit follows the elevation of the two nations' diplomatic relations during a meeting last November in Brazil, where the leaders inked over 40 agreements on myriad sectors, including infrastructure, energy and agribusiness. Brazil's minister of Transportation, Renan Filho, said in an interview with Reuters that Chinese investors were interested in several railway projects in Brazil, including ones to connect farm and mining regions to ports such as Barcarena, Açu and the recently opened Chinese-operated port in Chancay, Peru. "We will sign all projects that have road and rail synergy with the potential to increase exports to China, especially agriculture, but also other things, such as mining," he said. While the minister conceded that the plans had been presented to Chinese investors a few times over the years, he believes that the two countries' relationship is now mature enough for projects to move forward. That's partly, he added, because the two countries reached a firmer agreement last year about the nature of their relationship, after years in which Chinese diplomats fruitlessly attempted to convince Brazil to join the Belt and Road Initiative, China's global infrastructure program. Last November, the two agreed instead to find "synergies" between China's plans and Brazil's own development programs. The visit to Beijing this week is about adding solid projects and investments to these "synergies", one Brazilian diplomat who requested anonymity to discuss negotiations openly told Reuters. China is Brazil's biggest export market and has been one of the biggest foreign investors in Latin America, though it has been more cautious in recent years. According to a survey by the Brazil-China Business Council, Chinese investments in Brazil totaled $1.73 billion in 2023, a 33% increase compared to the previous year, but still the second lowest since 2007. Tulio Cariello, the council's director of research, said that transportation and particularly rail had enormous potential to attract Chinese investments, though in the past those projects have stalled with bureaucratic and budget obstacles. "I see that there is a lot of Chinese interest," he said, adding that the two countries are better prepared to overcome obstacles now. "There is now much more comprehensive knowledge about Brazil in China than there was before." (Report by Lisandra Paraguassu, writing by Manuela Andreoni; Editing by David Gregorio) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
