Category: Brazil

José Saraiva Felipe, Brazil’s new health minister, is piling pressure on Abbott Laboratories of the US to further reduce the price of its AIDS drug Kaletra. Abbott had already agreed to cut its original price of $1.29 per pill to an undisclosed price. The government may authorize local manufacturers to break Abbott’s patent and produce Kaletra at 41 cents per pill.

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Subject to a final decision in January, the US Department of Commerce ruled to impose duties of 24.62% to 60.29% on Brazilian orange juice exports. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of orange juice and has steadily taken market share in the US from producers in Florida.

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Brazil’s governing Workers’ Party, in its first apology since congress began probing allegations of corruption in June, said some members may have broken electoral laws without the knowledge of the party’s leadership. The party’s executive board said it would punish any members proven to have participated in illegal fundraising. The statement follows last week´s apology by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said he felt betrayed by practices he knew nothing about.

Brazilian retail sales rose 5.3 percent in June, the fastest pace in three months, suggesting consumer spending on home appliances, cars and furniture is holding up after nine central bank interest-rate increases. The central bank has raised the benchmark overnight rate to a 21-month high of 19.75 percent from 16 percent in September. Economists expect the central bank to begin cutting the rate as inflation slows.

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Banco do Brasil, Latin America’s biggest bank, said second-quarter profit jumped 25 percent year-on-year to $427 million. Brazilian banks including Banco do Brasil, which is about 70 percent owned by the government, are reporting a surge in profits as a growing economy fuels demand for credit while interest rates, at their highest since October 2003, boost returns on loans. Brazil’s central bank raised its benchmark rate by 3.75 percentage points over the nine months through May in a bid to stem inflation. Banco do Brasil´s assets under management were $95 billion at the end of the quarter, up 3 percent year-on-year.

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A 48 percent minimum wage increase approved by Brazil’s Senate would tack on $6.8 billion to government spending this year and $12.3 billion next year, according to the country´s Budget Ministry. Budget Minister Paulo Bernardo Silva will recommend President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva veto the increase should the proposal garner final congressional approval in the lower house, a ministry spokesman said.