Brazil has signed a $17 million deal with the United Nations, one of the clearest signs yet that the hosts of the 2014 World Cup are running behind on the construction of stadiums and other key infrastructure for the upcoming sporting event.
Nearly 2.5 million Brazilians living in poverty will receive a 70 reais ($35) monthly stipend from the government starting from March 18, reported Reuters on Tuesday, after President Dilma Rousseff signed an expansion for the “Bolsa Familia”, or Family Grant, program – the country’s flagship social program for the past decade.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday announced power rate cuts of between 18-32 percent in order to slow down inflation, reported Reuters, giving a much-needed boost to consumers and industries, who have seen inflation rise to as much as 6.02 percent this month.
The pace of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest slowed dramatically last year thanks to increased government efforts against illegal farming and logging, touted Brazilian officials on Tuesday, as almost 200 nations prepare to meet in Doha to negotiate an extension to the expiring Kyoto climate treaty and work on a new agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
At least 53 percent of Brazil’s population – 104 million Brazilians – are now part of the nation’s middle class, compared to just 38 percent ten years ago, said an official study by the government on Thursday.
The document, produced by the Presidency’s Department of Strategic Affairs, said that at least 35 million people had emerged from poverty over the time period, while nearly 80 per cent of the new members of the expanding middle class were of African ancestry.
Banking sector employees all across Brazil will go on strike next week to demand for higher pay, adjusted to the nation’s inflation rate, reported Reuters on Thursday, in the latest spree of labour disputes that have affected Latin America’s largest economy since the beginning of this year.
On Wednesday night, talks between banks and the industry union Contraf collapsed after workers rejected an offer to increase pay by 6 percent.
The Brazilian government has introduced major cuts in taxes for electricity producers and distributors, reported Reuters on Tuesday, in a move that will cut electricity cost for households up to 16 percent – and to businesses by up to 28 percent.
“This is the biggest reduction in electricity rates that the country has ever seen,” Rousseff said after signing the measures before an audience of business leaders.
The Brazilian government is set to sell off the rights to nearly 7,500km of roads and 10,000km of railways for private investors to operate, said President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday, in the hopes of raising $66 billion to improve the nation’s public infrastructure.
Three of Brazil’s largest telecommunication companies will have to spend more than $9.8 billion to upgrade their internet and mobile access services ahead of the upcoming football World Cup in 2014, reported the Financial Times on Monday, after the Brazilian government threatened to punish the companies unless they did so.
Public sector unions in Brazil are demanding nearly 92 billion reais ($45.3 billion) worth of salary increases for all of the country’s civil servants, reported Reuters on Thursday, after claiming that the current government employee pay scale was not an accurate reflection of Brazil’s economic growth over the last decade.
From 2001 to 2010, the Brazilian economy had grown by an average of 4 percent each year, with government revenues tripling during the period.
