Luciano Hang, a Brazilian businessman who owns the Havan chain of shops and a well-known Bolsonaro government supporter, celebrates recent layoffs of journalists on the SBT television channel

Luciano Hang, the owner of Havan, used social networks to congratulate the recent layoffs of journalists on the SBT television channel in Brazil. He also said the broadcaster should dispense with Rachel Sheherazade, a conservative commentator, and journalist on the channel's main newspaper. Today, 22.Jun.2019, Sheherazade said she will sue the businessman.

Hang is one of the top advertisers on the SBT channel. After Sheherazade's public response, Hang said she should "work on Cuban state TV Cubavisión, a great place for those who think like you."

Paradoxically, the business of Bolsonaro's supporter and harsh critic of the Brazilian left grew greatly during the years when Brazil was governed by left-center governments, that is, the Workers' Party.

According to Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, Hang was warned by the Labor Court of Brazil, which threatened him with a fine of R$ 500,000 if he pressured his employees to vote in Bolsonaro in 2018. This happened after Hang recorded a video in which he warned employees that he could stop creating jobs if his candidate (Bolsonaro) did not win the election.

According to Folha de S. Paulo, the problems of the businessman with the Brazilian court "are not new. Hang was the target of at least two criminal convictions for evasion of foreign exchange and tax evasion."

Toyota announces the dismissal of 840 employees at factories in Brazil

After a reduction in exports, Toyota's plants in Sorocaba and Porto Feliz, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, in Brazil, will have 840 layoffs. Most of this group is made up of employees hired for a set time for the opening of a third shift, which will cease to exist. The company said it will work with two shifts in the units as of August 5, 2019. According to the metalworkers' union, further layoffs may occur, as the company is stocked with 32 days of sales.

The factories where the layoffs are occurring are responsible for the production of the Yaris and Etios models. So far, three hundred and forty officials have already been dismissed and another 500 will not have their contracts renewed.

According to the magazine Quatro Rodas, a Brazilian automotive publication, Toyota defended itself by stating that the layoffs are the result of "a sharp drop in sales to Argentina. The neighboring country accounts for 93% of the demand for vehicles manufactured for export. turn account for 30% of production in Sorocaba."

Brazil's Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina declares support for the election of Chinese candidate for FAO direction

Brazil's Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina, is in Rome, Italy, for the 41st Conference of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to be held tomorrow, June 22, The entity will choose its new director-general on Sunday, June 23. 19.20. Tereza Cristina declared Brazil's support for the election of China's Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Qu Dongyue, to the post of Director-General of FAO.

For the minister, this may increase cooperation between the two countries. Tereza Cristina work to open the Asian market for Brazilian beef exports.

B3: Ibovespa sets a new record and reaches 102 thousand points

The Ibovespa traded today in a high and hit a new record, above the 102 thousand points. In the week, the main stock index of the Brazilian financial market accumulated a gain of 4.05%, the highest increase since the last week of December 2018.

The optimism of Brazilian investors is a direct result of the growing possibility of interest cuts in the United States and the increase in the voting chance of the Pension Reform in Brazil.

The Broadcast website today reported a report in which the analyst at Terra Investimentos Régis Chinchila said that the signaling that central banks in the US and other parts of the developed world can reduce interest rates is positive for Brazil.

Brazil spends 4.1% of GDP to pay interest and public debt charges in 2018

A report by the Federal Audit Office (TCU) shows that in 2018 the federal government spent $ 279.6 billion on interest and debt charges. The figure represents 10.1% of all committed expenditures (R $ 2.7 trillion) and 4.1% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Gross debt, which accounts for the liabilities of federal, state and municipal governments, rose in March, according to data from the Central Bank (BC), released 30.Apr.2019 to R$ 5.431 trillion. The value corresponded to 78.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, the sum of all goods and services produced in the country), 0.9 percentage points more than in February. This ratio between debt and GDP is the highest in the historical series, which began in December 2001.

The same report indicates that tax waiver reached R$ 314.2 billion, corresponding to 25.6% of net primary revenue and 4.6% of GDP. According to the TCU, the waiver of social security contributions surpassed R$ 62 billion in 2018.

São Paulo Stock Exchange, the B3, rises 0.9% and reaches 100,303 points; Natura (NATU3) leads high

Shortly after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell announced that he would keep interest rates in the US between 2.25% and 2.5% a year, the Ibovespa returned to reach 100,000 points today (19.June.2019) in Brazil. 

The commercial dollar, in turn, fell 0.25% today and reached R$ 3.85 in the sale. It was the second low followed by the currency and the lowest since April 10 (R$ 3,824) in 2019.

The shares of Natura (NATU3), a cosmetics company, rose 5.3% and led the highs in the Ibovespa today, after news that the cosmetics manufacturer got in court right to a tax benefit.

Natura obtained in the Federal Regional Court (TRF) of the 3rd Region, in São Paulo, the right to exclude up to 60% of its expenses from income tax and Social Contribution on Net Income (CSLL). technological research and development of technological innovation.

Long-term unemployment grows in Brazil

According to data released by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea), the number of Brazilians seeking employment for more than two years rose 42.4% between the first quarter of 2015 and the same period in 2019. Since then, the number of people in these conditions has reached 3.3 million. The situation affects women and the North and Northeast regions more intensely. According to Ipea's assessment, unemployment should only begin to subside as of next year.

According to the Valor newspaper, the percentage of long-term unemployed in the country increased from 17.4% in the first quarter of 2015 to 24.8% in the same period this year, reaching a level of 3.3 million people.

According to the G1 website, the study concludes that the Brazilian labor market, therefore, remains quite deteriorated, with large numbers of unemployed, discouraged and underemployed.

Another defeat: Brazilian Senate committee shuns Bolsonaro's decree easing guns law

The decree for the liberation of the arms proposed by the government of Jair Bolsonaro suffers a defeat in the Senate. The text was not approved. This shows a clear separation between the customs agenda defended by the government and the economic agenda, which despite the Bolsonaro government's continued inability to negotiate politically, continues to be moving in the Chamber of Deputies, mainly the Pension Reform.

Rodrigo Maia, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, has decided to maintain the economic agenda despite the ongoing criticism he makes of the current government of Jair Bolsonaro. Maia, who is an economist, said this week that the departure of economist Joaquim Levy from BNDES was "unprecedented cowardice."

Levy resigned last Sunday (16.June.2019), a day after President Jair Bolsonaro told a news conference Levy was with "a price on his head."

Level of construction jobs in Brazil was practically stagnant in the first four months of 2019

The civil construction sector in Brazil generated 20 thousand jobs in the first four months of 2019. Data compiled by the FGV and the Civil Construction Industry Union based on Caged, the number of people employed in the civil construction sector in the period increased by 0,88% compared to the same period in 2018. The employers' union saw growth well below the expected resumption. The projection for GDP expansion in construction fell from 2.0% in early 2019 to 0.5% now.

However, if seasonal effects are disregarded, employment in the Brazilian construction industry would have registered growth of 0.08% in April (+1 954 jobs). At the end of this month, the sector employed 2,314,065 workers in Brazil. With this growth of only 0.08%, it seems that the country is far from the resumption of economic growth predicted by many analysts in early 2019.

As I have written here, this error is the result of the bet and support that many economic agents gave the Bolsonaro government. "In early 2019 financial institutions, according to this same bulletin Focus, forecasted a 2.6% growth in the Brazilian economy this year. However, this bet on the world of finance was mistakenly based on a very positive judgment of Jair Bolsonaro's ability to lead the country's economy".

Safra Plan: the government will offer R$ 225.59 billion in credits to Brazilian farmers

The Brazilian government announced today (18.jun.2019) R$ 225.59 billion for the 2019/2020 Safra Plan, which offers credits for financing small, medium and large Brazilian farmers. The value is practically the same as the previous season.

Of this total, R$ 222.74 billion is for rural credit, of which R$ 169.33 billion for funding, marketing and industrialization. Other R$ 53.41 billion for investment.

Among the main investment programs, Moderfrota, for financing agricultural machinery and equipment, will have R$ 9.6 billion, with a financing limit of up to 85% of the value of the product.

The Agriculture and Low Carbon Program will have R$ 2.096 billion available, with a financing limit of R$ 5 million per contract. The payment term is 12 years, with interest rates of 5.25% per year and 7% per year.

"Third-level advisor assumes the BNDES"

According to journalist Josias de Souza, Brazil's economy minister, Paulo Guedes, "contented himself with a domestic solution to fill the vacancy of the president of the BNDES". For Souza, Guedes accommodated "a third-level adviser" in the position of the top echelon of the Economics portfolio, was Gustavo Montezano, who has only 38 years old and served as special assistant secretary of Privatization and Disinvestment.

According to the newspaper Correio Braziliense, Paulo Guedes "ran against time to try to contain the sangria with the resignation of Levy, announced virulently by Bolsonaro on Saturday (15.Jun.2019) in the morning. The home-based solution was chosen to avoid further upheaval. The government did not want to hear a series of 'no', as many serious people were afraid of the President's rant."