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☆ Portuguese Bankers Warn Political Instability Could Undermine Reforms, Public Finances
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Sergio GoncalvesLISBON (Reuters) - The resignation of Portugal's prime minister will trigger instability that could delay economic reforms, while making it harder for the country to keep a balanced budget and further reduce debt, bankers warned on Thursday. The government remains fully functional for the time being, at least until parliament has had its final vote on the 2024 budget on Nov. 29. He said reforms should create an environment for companies to achieve better results and compete more effectively globally. The 2024 budget projects economic growth will slow to 1.5% in 2024 from 2.2% expected this year and political instability may also delay public investment, such as using COVID recovery funds, and private investment. "Probably no one wants to invest when there is great instability," said Pedro Castro Almeida, CEO of Santander Portugal.

Persons: Sergio Goncalves LISBON, Portugal's, Antonio Costa, illegalities, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Antonio Horta, Osorio, Miguel Maya, Pedro Castro Almeida, Paulo Macedo, Sergio Goncalves, Catarina Demony, Mark Potter Organizations: Credit Suisse, Lloyds Banking Group, Santander Portugal, Caixa Geral Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, Horta, Caixa, Depositos

☆ Portuguese bankers warn political instability could undermine reforms, public finances
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Sergio Goncalves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Antonio Horta Osorio, CEO of Lloyds Banking Group, arrives at a garden party at Buckingham Palace, London, May 22, 2018. The government remains fully functional for the time being, at least until parliament has had its final vote on the 2024 budget on Nov. 29. He said reforms should create an environment for companies to achieve better results and compete more effectively globally. The 2024 budget projects economic growth will slow to 1.5% in 2024 from 2.2% expected this year and political instability may also delay public investment, such as using COVID recovery funds, and private investment. "Probably no one wants to invest when there is great instability," said Pedro Castro Almeida, CEO of Santander Portugal.

Persons: Antonio Horta Osorio, Simon Dawson, Portugal's, Antonio Costa, illegalities, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Antonio Horta, Osorio, Miguel Maya, Pedro Castro Almeida, Paulo Macedo, Sergio Goncalves, Catarina Demony, Mark Potter Organizations: Lloyds Banking Group, REUTERS, Rights, Credit Suisse, bcp, Santander Portugal, Caixa Geral, Thomson Locations: Buckingham Palace, London, Rights LISBON, Lisbon, Portugal, Horta, Caixa, Depositos

☆ Brazil's Lula names new CEO of state-run lender Caixa
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Caixa Economica Federal FollowBRASILIA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday picked Carlos Antonio Vieira Fernandes to replace Rita Serrano as CEO of state-run lender Caixa Economica Federal. Her replacement, Fernandes, is a former worker at the bank and former director of the Caixa employees' pension fund, Funcef. The CEO appointment comes after months of negotiations with a powerful bloc of lawmakers called "centrao." Fernandes was recommended to Lula by Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira on behalf of the bloc, in exchange for more support in Congress. Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Carlos Antonio Vieira Fernandes, Rita Serrano, Serrano, Lula, Fernandes, Arthur Lira, Lisandra Paraguassu, Peter Frontini, Leslie Adler Organizations: Caixa Economica, Caixa Economica Federal, Caixa, Lower, Thomson Locations: BRASILIA, Caixa, Lula

☆ China's heading for another real estate crisis — but it's on a whole different scale than what it's seen before
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Country Garden, a massive Chinese property developer, missed interest payments on two dollar bonds this week. However, it's the scale of Country Garden's projects that is a big warning signal for the Chinese real estate sector and the wider economy. Evergrande faced a liquidity crisis in 2020, prodding it to try to halve its around $100 billion debt by mid-2023. These efforts were scuppered by a slowdown in China's property sector and regulators' efforts to put brakes on property developers borrowing excessively. However, putting the brakes on borrowing started sending the property sector into a crisis.

Persons: Kristy Hung, Yang Guoqiang, Yang Huiyan, Yang, Moody's, Sandra Chow, Evergrande, Huileng Tan Organizations: Service, Bloomberg Intelligence, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, CNN, China Index Academy, Reuters, Pacific Research, New York Times, Caixa Bank Locations: Beijing, Wall, Silicon, China, Evergrande, Foshan, Asia, Pacific, CreditSights

☆ The most interesting part of China's stimulus announcement was the omission of a key phrase that ignited the 2020 crackdown on the real-estate sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

China's property market is a huge part of the economy, but it's now in a deep slump. This measure was introduced in August 2020 to limit the amount of money property developers could borrow. Other Chinese real-estate developers ran into similar issues, and the sector started to default on its bond payments. In the background, there were concerns that China's property crisis could spill over into the broader domestic and global economy. In 2022, China's economy grew 3% — well below its official 5.5% target, intensifying the drag on the property sector.

Persons: it's, Xi Jinping, Xi, Lina Batarags, Evergrande, Bo Zhuang, Loomis Sayles, Zhuang, Shenzhen —, Nomura Organizations: Authorities, Service, Bloomberg, Spain's Caixa Bank, Nikkei, Reuters Locations: Beijing, Wall, Silicon, China, Expectedly, Shenzhen

☆ Spanish researchers aim to 'trick nature' with artificial womb
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Horaci Garcia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, June 29 (Reuters) - Researchers in Barcelona are trying to "trick nature" by creating an artificial womb for extremely premature babies after tests on animals kept foetuses alive for 12 days. Their artificial placenta prototype recreates a protective environment with a translucent container made of biocompatible material inside which the foetus' lungs, intestines and brain can continue to develop. Babies born after six months of pregnancy or less are considered extremely premature with a high risk of death or disability. It's a challenge, it's extremely delicate to achieve this, to trick nature to make this possible," Gratacos said. "Although it is an exciting development, the artificial placenta is not intended to replace a natural placenta," Werner said.

Persons: Eduard Gratacos, Gratacos, Kelly Werner, Werner, Horaci Garcia, Emma Pinedo, David Latona, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Reuters, Fundacion La Caixa, Caixabank, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Columbia University, Science Media Centre, Thomson Locations: BARCELONA, Barcelona, Spanish

☆ Replanting the Amazon could slow global warming. Here’s why it’s hard
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +24 min

Milton da Costa Junior nosed his pickup through a remote stretch of the western Brazilian Amazon to check on his babies. Local authorities said the September 2021 incident, which Da Costa outlined in a police report that was reviewed by Reuters, is being investigated. Out of dozens of reforestation initiatives in the country, Rioterra and The Black Jaguar Foundation, a Brazilian-European group, are among the largest. Illegal invaders destroy in hours what it takes Rioterra or Black Jaguar a year to plant. In all, Black Jaguar has signed contracts with 26 farms and planted 326 hectares (806 acres) to date.

Persons: Milton da Costa, Da Costa, Carlos Nobre, Alexis Bastos, Rioterra, ”, Nobre, “, Bastos, Jamari, Dejesus Aparecido Ramos, it’s, ” Bastos, Jair Bolsonaro, Germany –, Bolsonaro, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Black, Ben Valks, Valks, Leandro Silveira, Silveira, São, ” Valks, aren’t, Cristina Banks, Leite, Marcos Mariani, Araguaia, Mariani, Tânia Irres, ” Irres, Regina Molke, I’ll, Clovis, Black Jaguar, Aquaverde, Renato Franklin, “ Ben, ” Franklin, L’Oreal, da Costa, ” Da Costa, da, Spring, Clare Trainor, Catherine Tai, Lais Morais, Ilan Rubens, Lucy Ha, John Emerson, Marla Dickerson Organizations: Milton da Costa Junior, Toyota, Reuters, Black Jaguar Foundation, National Institute for Space Research, Rioterra, Cultural, Environmental Studies, Petrobras, “, Amazon Fund, Environment Ministry, United, United Arab Emirates, São Paulo, Global, Farmers, Brazil’s Central Bank, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, Imperial College London, Santana, Bolsonaro, United Nations, Space Agency, Copernicus, Sentinel Locations: Machadinho, Rondônia, Brazil, Germany, Brazilian, European, Manhattan, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Bastos, Porto Velho, droves, Rio, Black, Itapuã, Oeste, Norway, United Arab, Pará, Caixa, “, Costa, Syria, Paris, Santana, Araguaia’s, Clovis, Regina, United States, South, Geneva, Rio Preto, da Costa

☆ Next Petrobras CEO says he will change company's fuel price policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The incoming chief executive of Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) said on Friday he planned to tweak the country's fuel price policy, but said investors need not worry. Prates told journalists he will change the firm's pricing policy, which pegs fuel to global oil prices, but stressed that this does not mean prices will be completely unlinked to the international market. "Petrobras' pricing policy will be changed, but not necessarily to traumatize investors," he said. The company's pricing policy was at the center of turmoil during President Jair Bolsonaro's administration. Three of Petrobras' CEOs were ousted during his term, as fuel price hikes stoked inflation and hurt his popularity.

LISBON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Further consolidation of Portugal's banking sector is inevitable, European Central Bank member Mario Centeno told Reuters on Wednesday, calling "remarkable" the recent progress the country's banks have made on strengthening capital and reducing risk. Analysts have said that Portuguese banks should bet on M&A operations to achieve better competitive conditions, despite the five largest players' owning 80% to 85% of banking assets. Portugal's banks are still scarred from a debt crisis and a spike in NPLs after the 2010-13 recession. The NPL ratio for Portugal's lenders was 3.4% of total credit in June, versus 17.9% in mid-2016. "Although I am very satisfied with the evolution...there is no point in resting, we have to challenge ourselves," Centeno said.

Lula insisted in a speech that he would maintain fiscal discipline, but his comments added to growing investor skepticism that he would keep a lid on spending. Concerns have been mounting about Brazil's public finances after major outlays through the pandemic and this year's presidential election. But his advisers are already discussing with lawmakers how to open room for more spending outside a constitutional spending cap in order to deliver on campaign promises, including a possible "Transition PEC" amending the constitution. "The signals indicate that the spirit of the Transition PEC is very oriented around new public spending. Still, as tough policy tradeoffs loom, and with Lula's economic team still being defined, markets have grown less patient.

☆ Analysis: Lula, Bolsonaro and market look to cure Brazil consumer debt hangover
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Tatiana Bautzer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

With nearly 70 million Brazilians blacklisted by credit agency Serasa, owing 290 billion reais ($54.4 billion), debt relief is smart politics in a closely fought presidential campaign, ahead of an Oct. 30 runoff vote. Advisers say he would focus first on 95 billion reais of unpaid bills accumulated by families earning up to 3,600 reais ($676) per month. Later steps would focus on incentives to restructure bank debt, for this population. Looking to steal his thunder, right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro announced a program offering a sharp discount on bank debts. But the scope is far more modest, applying to some 4 million borrowers from state bank Caixa Economica Federal, which estimated about 1 billion reais of restructuring.

☆ Lula plans broad Brazil consumer debt renegotiation, adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Marcela Ayres | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - 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. Renegotiated debts would be partially covered by a government guarantee fund of 7-16 billion reais, Mello said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"These are very reasonable amounts for the government to contribute," he added. The details of the plan, described broadly in Lula's leftist presidential platform, come after right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro announced a debt renegotiation program for some 4 million clients of state bank Caixa Econômica Federal. But they are also studying strategies to encourage restructuring of bank debt at lower interest rates by reducing lenders' compulsory deposits.

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