Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Telebras (TBH) & Brazil -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (8957)	10/9/1998 4:37:00 PM
From: DMaA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22640

Only if I remove my bookmark. EMail me for instructions on where to send bribes.

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (8957)	10/11/1998 10:53:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Congress, White House try to clinch IMF deal Reuters, Sunday, October 11, 1998 at 13:34 By Adam Entous WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans and the White House hoped to clinch an agreement on Sunday freeing up $18 billion for the International Monetary Fund to bail out the next wave of crisis-hit economies. An agreement would be a major victory for the White House, which is desperate to shore up confidence in the IMF's finances so it can tackle the spreading global economic crisis that has swept across Asia and Russia and thrown financial markets into turmoil. "We are working out the details now," House of Representatives Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Texas Republican, told ABC's "This Week" program. Republican aides said an agreement could be reached at a leadership meeting scheduled for later on Sunday. Republicans are seeking several lending and policy reforms at the IMF in exchange for the $18 billion requested by the White House. Specifically, Republicans want the IMF to lend at market rates, slash loan maturities and publish detailed summaries of its secretive board meetings. The administration has warned that some of these demands would be impossible to implement at the IMF, which reports to 182 governments, not just the United States. Any compromise is likely to include some of the Republican demands, but would give the IMF greater leeway on loan rates and maturities. The $18 billion requested by President Bill Clinton has already been approved by the Senate. But the money has been held up for months in the House, which has agreed to only $3.4 billion of the funding. If the full $18 billion is agreed as expected, the IMF package would be wrapped in with broader legislation to fund U.S. government programs. A vote on the broader legislation is expected this week. Because of IMF rules, other countries are waiting for the United States, the fund's largest shareholder, to pay up before they chip in their share to replenish IMF coffers, drained by multibillion-dollar bailouts for Russia and three Asian states Under the Republican plan unveiled last week, IMF lending must be at market rates, adjusted for risk. If rates were increased, Republicans believe countries would have a new incentive to stick to sound economic policies, because it would be more expensive to turn to the IMF for a bailout. Republicans have also demanded that no fund loan arrangement be for a period exceeding one year, to wean countries quickly off the IMF dole. But Armey said Republicans were willing to be flexible on that particular demand. The Republican plan would require greater openness at the IMF, including public release of full written summaries of executive board meetings and internal IMF documents on loan agreements. The IMF already releases information about loans and annual country reviews, but board meetings are held behind closed-doors and the discussions are kept secret. The Republican proposal would also create an advisory commission to report to Congress on the future roles and responsibilities of the IMF, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. "The reforms are necessary .... "The IMF can have American tax dollars if the IMF is responsible and productive in the world economy," Armey told ABC. White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles was expected to meet later on Sunday with top Republicans to continue negotiations. Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (8957)	10/11/1998 10:55:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil has no debt rollover problems -- official Reuters, Sunday, October 11, 1998 at 16:42 BRASILIA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Fears that Brazil might default on its domestic debt are unfounded and based on a lack of understanding of how the local debt market works, said Brazil's new executive director at the International Monetary Fund. "We have never had problems rolling over debt, even with high inflation, impeachment and other events," Murilo Portugal told Folha de Sao Paulo in an interview published Sunday. "Only people who have insufficient information or who have never followed Brazil started spreading (these rumors)." Portugal, a former treasury secretary, took over this week from Alexandre Kafka, who is retiring as Brazil's representative at the IMF after 32 years. Brazil's Central Bank hiked interest rates to almost 50 percent a year in September to stem a massive outflow of dollars after Russia's economic troubles triggered a global crisis of confidence in emerging markets. There is some concern that the government may find it hard to convince jumpy markets to accept new debt to roll over about $75 billion in paper due between now and the end of the year. Portugal said Brazil could not be compared to Russia, which partially defaulted on its debt in August, since its domestic debt was in the hands of local investors who were unlikely to leave the country at short notice. But he admitted that the National Treasury's decision to cancel its weekly debt auction in mid-September, at the height of market jitters, had given rise to questions about the country's ability to roll over domestic debt coming due this year. The Treasury decided to cancel the auction because privatization proceeds had just rolled in, he said. "This could have been explained better to the market, which may have thought the absence of auctions was a sign of weakness," Portugal told the newspaper. "In actual fact, commitments are being rolled over normally." joelle.diderich@reuters.com)) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (8957)	10/11/1998 10:58:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil rates seen falling only in 1999-Trade Sec'y Reuters, Sunday, October 11, 1998 at 16:48 BRASILIA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Brazil is unlikely to lower interest rates from the current 50 percent per year until early 1999, Foreign Trade Secretary Jose Roberto Mendonca de Barros said in an interview published Sunday. The Central Bank hiked interest rates in September to stem a massive outflow of dollars following a devaluation in Russia, which triggered fears of a devastating currency collapse in Latin America's largest nation. Interest rates will only be cut once Brazil has convinced investors it is serious about tackling its gaping budget deficit, which economists say makes the real currency vulnerable to speculative attack, Mendonca de Barros said. He noted that investor confidence was improving after Brazil and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed Thursday on the broad outlines of a tough fiscal austerity plan which it must announce to qualify for an IMF loan. "The reduction in rates will be as rapid as possible, but it will depend on the market's objective reaction to the (fiscal) program," Mendonca de Barros told O Estado de Sao Paulo. "There has been a very clear change in sentiment in the last six days," he said. "The perception that Brazil is moving forward is already translating into commercial credit lines." Among Brazil's undertakings was a pledge to produce a primary budget surplus - excluding debt costs - of between 2.5 and 3 percent of gross domestic product next year, requiring spending cuts or tax increases of at least $20 billion. The trade secretary said the government wanted to avoid a repeat of the $19 billion fiscal austerity package announced at the height of Asia's economic crisis last year, which was widely criticized for failing to implement the promised spending cuts. "We recognize that last year, in terms of spending cuts, we ended up owing the country," he said. "This time, we will definitely do our homework and the progress will be important, considerable and fast." Mendonca de Barros predicted growth would slow sharply in the first half of 1999 as a result of high interest rates, but rejected some economists' predictions of a recession, saying there would be a recovery in the second half of the year. "I don't buy these projections of a negative (growth rate of) 2 percent or 3 percent," he said. joelle.diderich@reuters.com)) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (8957)	10/11/1998 11:01:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazilians Await Details Of Pres. Cardoso's Austerity Plan Dow Jones Newswires RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)--_ Many Brazilians aren't sure what to expect when President Fernando Henrique Cardoso unveils the tough austerity measures that he promised before his re-election a week ago. But one thing is certain: his remedy for Brazil's ailing economy will surely be bitter. Cardoso has promised to announce by Oct. 20 a range of austerity measures that are expected to slash jobs and government spending. Interest rates may also stay pegged at 50%. "The (country's) financial adjustment will be dramatic, definitive and permanent," said Demosthenes Madureira de Pinho Neto, foreign affairs director at Brazil's Central Bank, earlier this week. Neto said government spending for 1999 would be cut by around $20 billion. That would ease Brazil's budget deficit of more than $60 billion, a staggering 7.3% of its gross domestic product. But such steps should improve investor confidence - now at a low ebb, with around $30 billion withdrawn from the country in August and September. "It's all up to him (Cardoso) now to fight off an economic crisis but I'm not sure how he intends to do it," said Anderson da Silva Pereira, 20, one of 35 million Brazilians who voted for Cardoso. Cardoso appears set to increase taxes on bank transaction charges, said Michel Temer, president of the Chamber of Deputies, after a meeting with the president this week. Such an adjustment would not have an immediate effect on most Brazilians. A more painful measure, however, may be public sector job cuts that would increase Brazil's rising unemployment, which now stands at 8%. Opposition leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who lost the election to Cardoso, claimed Cardoso was merely acting as a puppet for the International Monetary Fund as it tries to halt the global financial crisis. "The president is prohibited from saying what he intends to do to face the crisis because it is not the government but the IMF which is preparing the measures for Brazil," he said.

To: Steve Fancy who wrote (8957)	10/11/1998 11:08:00 PM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22640

FOCUS-U.S. Congress readies deal on IMF Sunday October 11, 6:47 pm Eastern Time (Recasts throughout) By Adam Entous WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans on Sunday hammered out a draft agreement to free up $18 billion for the International Monetary Fund, but were unlikely to finalize the deal until other budget disputes were settled. ''It's done,'' one Republican aide said of the IMF funding and reform package under negotiations with the White House. But another negotiator said funding for the IMF was caught up in the contentious battle over an end-of-session spending package. ''It's not a deal until everything's a deal,'' he said. An agreement handing over $18 billion to the cash-strapped lending agency would be a major victory for the White House, which is desperate to shore up confidence in the IMF's finances so it can tackle the spreading global economic crisis. That crisis has swept across Asia and Russia to Brazil and other Latin American nations and has thrown world financial markets into turmoil. Republicans are seeking several lending and policy reforms at the IMF in exchange for the $18 billion requested by the White House. Specifically, Republicans want the IMF to lend at closer to market rates, to trim loan maturities and to publish detailed summaries of its secretive board meetings. The administration had warned that some of these demands would be impossible to implement at the IMF, which reports to 182 governments, not just the United States. The draft of the latest Republican plan was not immediately available. But negotiators said it would give the IMF greater leeway on loan rates and maturities, while yielding to other Republican reform objectives. U.S. Rep. Sonny Callahan, a top Republican negotiator, said a compromise was imminent. Rep. David Obey, a top Democrat in negotiations, was also optimistic a deal would be announced soon. ''You can see a solution to that on the horizon.'' The $18 billion package has already been approved by the Senate. But the money has been held up for months by the Republican leadership in the House. Lawmakers plan to wrap the money for the IMF into a catchall government spending package, the subject of tense negotiations between Republicans and the White House. ''IMF ... is the one area where we're moving much closer to agreement,'' Obey of Wisconsin said after talks with Republicans. But a final agreement on the broader spending package that will include the IMF was not expected until later this week. Because of IMF rules, other countries are waiting for the United States, the fund's largest shareholder, to pay up before they chip in their share to replenish IMF coffers, drained by huge bailouts for Russia and three Asian states. Under the Republican plan unveiled last week, IMF lending must be at market rates, adjusted for risk. If rates were increased, Republicans believe countries would have new incentive to stick to sound economic policies because it would be more expensive to turn to the IMF for a bailout. Republicans have also demanded that IMF limit lending to 12 months, to wean countries quickly off the dole. But House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Texas Republican, said the leadership was flexible on maturities. The Republican plan would require greater openness at the IMF, including public release of summaries of executive board meetings and internal IMF documents on loan agreements. The IMF already releases information about loans and annual country reviews, but board meetings are held behind closed-doors and the discussions are kept secret. The Republican proposal would also create an advisory commission to report to Congress on the future roles and responsibilities of the IMF, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. ''The reforms are necessary,'' Armey told ABC television on Sunday. ''The IMF can have American tax dollars if the IMF is responsible and productive in the world economy.''