Criatividade fiscal sem fim

Governadores e prefeitos vão deixar conta para sucessores

Em nome de uma melhora no perfil de suas dívidas, governadores e prefeitos estão autorizados a buscar empréstimos junto a bancos privados e a deixar parte da conta para ser paga por seus sucessores, que também terão que enfrentar os altos e baixos do dólar por dez anos.

A permissão para essa nova operação foi dada pessoalmente pelo secretário do Tesouro Nacional, Arno Augustin, contrariando recomendação da área técnica do órgão descrita em um parágrafo do parecer 1.605/2012 da Procuradoria-Geral da Fazenda Nacional (PGFN). Os técnicos discordaram da inclusão de prazos de carência nas operações de refinanciamento da dívida estadual por meio de empréstimos dolarizados, que foram realizadas em 2012.

HSBC Said to Hire Barclays's Brazil Equity Sales Chief

Ricardo Lanfranchi, head of equity sales at Barclays (BARC) Plc in Brazil, is leaving to take the same position at HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Lanfranchi, who has been at London-based Barclays since 2009 and helped build the Brazil broker-dealer unit, will move in a couple of months, the person said, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public yet. He will continue to work in Sao Paulo after joining HSBC, the person said.

Brazil Reduces IOF on Financial Derivatives » More Liquidity in the Market

Brazil has reduced a financial transactions tax on currency derivatives to zero after its currency, the real, hit four-year lows against the dollar on Wednesday.

The measure was the second such move in a week to dismantle currency controls as the government sounds a rapid retreat from its earlier “currency war” against foreign capital inflows.

The 1 per cent tax, which applied to short dollar positions in the futures market that were essentially a bet on a stronger real, was considered one of the most onerous of Brazil’s currency controls when it was introduced in July 2011.

Brazil Ready to Cut Spending to Meet Fiscal Target

SAO PAULO--Brazil's government is ready to cut spending, if necessary, to meet its primary budget surplus target for this year, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said in an interview published Wednesday by the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.

"We will make additional adjustments on the spending side, as needed," he said. "We are going to reach the target of a primary surplus equal to 2.3% of gross domestic product. This is a firm government target."

Brazil's President Rousseff Pledges Fiscal Discipline

BRASILIA--Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff reinforced her administration's commitment with fighting inflation and keeping public accounts in good shape, as she launched another income distribution program.