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

To: lebo who wrote (9778)	11/18/1998 10:21:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

lebo, TNE, TCS, TSP, EMT, TCP, TMB, TSU, TRO, TCN, TSD, TBE, TND. sf

To: lebo who wrote (9778)	11/18/1998 10:28:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

INSTANT VIEW-Brazil nominal budget deficit narrows Reuters, Wednesday, November 18, 1998 at 08:39 SAO PAULO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The following are views from economists after Brazil's Central Bank said Tuesday that the country's nominal public sector deficit narrowed to 6.33 percent of gross domestic product in the period between January and August, versus 7.02 percent in the January to July period. The public sector primary surplus was 0.9 percent of GDP in the same period. MARCELO ALLAIN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, BMC BANK IN SAO PAULO: "The accumulated deficit until August was worse than expected, especially as the primary surplus fell below forecasts." "The primary surplus was expected to be bigger than the actual, at about 1.4 percent, due to the revenues from the privatization of Telebras." "With the worse-than-expected August results and considering interest rates were raised in September, the year should end with a 7.8 percent nominal deficit, instead of our previous forecast of a 7.5 percent deficit, while the primary surplus should end the year at about 1.0 percent." ODAIR ABATE, CHIEF ECONOMIST AT LLOYDS BANK IN SAO PAULO: "The numbers were better than we were expecting. We were expecting a nominal deficit a little above 6.3 percent of GDP, something more like 6.6 percent." "Despite the results being slightly better than we expected, it doesn't change the serious situation of the country's public accounts. The numbers are still bad enough and the fiscal adjustment program is still essential." ROBERIO DA COSTA, SENIOR ECONOMIST AT CITIBANK, SAO PAULO: "The public sector information shows figures that are more or less within expectations." "I think that at the end of the year the nominal deficit should be around 7.6 to 7.7 percent of GDP. That means a relative equilibrium in the public accounts up to now, with a possible worsening in the next few months." Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: lebo who wrote (9778)	11/18/1998 10:29:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil net public debt at 351.52 bln reais in Aug Reuters, Wednesday, November 18, 1998 at 08:54 BRASILIA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Brazil's net public sector debt in August rose to 351.519 billion reais, equivalent to 38.8 percent of gross domestic product, the Central Bank said Wednesday. The debt-to-GDP ratio worsened slightly from July, when it stood at 38.6 percent of GDP. Of the total, Brazil's internal debt was 328.886 billion reais, while external debt was 22.632 billion reais, the bank said. While the overall debt-to-GDP ratio of 38.8 percent is small when compared to Belgium, Italy or Canada, whose ratios range from 80 percent to over 100 percent of GDP, economists say it is worrisome for a speculative-grade country like Brazil. The Central Bank also said the monetary base, according to daily averages, reached 34.604 billion reais at the end of September, up 2 percent from the previous month. raquel.stenzel@reuters.com)) Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: lebo who wrote (9778)	11/18/1998 10:30:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil's Q3 GDP falls 0.14 percent versus Q3 1997 Reuters, Wednesday, November 18, 1998 at 08:55 RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.14 percent in the third quarter this year against the same period in 1997, the National Statistics Institute (IBGE) said Wednesday. The GDP showed a drop of 1.52 percent in the third quarter versus the second quarter of 1998, the IBGE said. Brazilian industry had a sharp decline of 2.06 percent in the third quarter from the same period in 1997. Manufacturing was hardest hit with a 4.09 percent loss of output compared to last year. The figures, which have been seasonally adjusted, show the biggest loss of GDP from one quarter to the next since 1995 when the country was caught up in the spillover from the Mexican currency crisis, the IBGE said. But in the first nine months of the year, the economy had accumulated growth of 0.79 percent versus 1997. Economists at the IBGE said the shrinking in the third quarter was aggravated by the international financial crisis that started with Russia's debt moratorium in August and triggered a big rate hike in Brazil. The rate rise from an annual 19 percent to 40 percent halted the economic expansion that was seen in the second quarter, when GDP rose 1.31 percent from the first quarter. Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: lebo who wrote (9778)	11/18/1998 10:31:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil '98 nominal budget gap seen above 7 pct/GDP Reuters, Wednesday, November 18, 1998 at 09:54 BRASILIA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Brazil's nominal budget gap, a key indicator of the country's fiscal health, should rise above 7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of 1998 from 6.33 pct of GDP in the January-August period, a Central Bank official said Wednesday. "Certainly this deficit should rise due to the increase in interest rates," said Altamir Lopes, head of the bank's economics department. "I am sure it will rise from this 6.33 percent and should end the year slightly above 7 percent." Brazil's nominal budget gap was boosted in August by 5.28 billion reais ($4.43 billion) in revenue linked to the privatization of federal telephone company Telebras (SAO:TELB3) in late July, he said. "The result is positive and the main factor obviously is the incorporation of revenues from concessions linked to the privatization of Telebras," Lopes told a news conference. But the government's accounts are due to show from September the effects of a sharp interest rate hike. The Central Bank raised rates to more than 40 percent to stem a massive dollar outflow amid a global crisis in emerging markets. The nominal budget deficit includes the nominal cost of interest payments on government debt, which has shot up since the rate hike in mid-September. The Central Bank said 66 percent of the government's internal debt -- which totaled 328.886 billion reais in August -- was now linked to the benchmark overnight rate, which stood at 37.5 percent Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters said they expected the nominal budget gap to end 1998 at 7.57 percent of GDP. Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: lebo who wrote (9778)	11/18/1998 10:32:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

RESEARCH ALERT - Tele Sudeste Celular (NYSE:TSD) cut Reuters, Wednesday, November 18, 1998 at 09:24 NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Santander Investment said analyst Pat Jurczak cut his rating for Brazilian telephone company Tele Sudeste Celular Wednesday to market perform from buy. -- "Following the recent runup, the positive factors of liquidity and TISA (the international subsidiary of Telefonica de Espana (NYSE:TEF)) management are fairly priced in Tele Sudeste shares," he wrote in a report. -- "It is by every measure the most expensive play in the Brazilian cellular market." -- Tele Sudeste's American Depositary Receipts closed Tuesday at 25-12/16. Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service

To: lebo who wrote (9778)	11/18/1998 10:34:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Respond to of 22640

Brazil Commun Min To Answer Telebras Sale Allegations Thurs Dow Jones Newswires BRASILIA -- Brazilian Communications Minister Luiz Carlos Mendonca de Barros will appear before the Senate Thursday to respond to allegations that he tried to influence the privatization of Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras SA (TBR), the Senate office said Tuesday. A Senate communique said the minister will address the upper house at 1200 GMT Thursday to defend himself against accusations arising from tapped telephone conversations between himself and government-owned National Development Bank (BNDES) President Andre Lara Resende about the sale of the telecommunications giant. Both have denied allegations of wrongdoing, saying the published version of their conversations was "edited and incomplete". They also have vowed not to resign their posts. At his daily press briefing Tuesday, presidential spokesman Sergio Amaral confirmed both officials had the full trust of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and will continue in office. The secretly recorded phone calls - published by a news magazine last Sunday - suggest that both men tried to favor a consortium of personal friends in its bid for one of the Telebras units. Telebras' 12 units were auctioned on July 29. -By William Vanvolsem; 5561 244 3095; wvanvolsem@ap.org

To: lebo who wrote (9778)	11/18/1998 10:36:00 AM
From: Steve Fancy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 22640

Brazil's Senate To Debate Key Fiscal Plan Tax Increase Wed Dow Jones Newswires BRASILIA -- The Brazilian Senate is scheduled to start its voting procedures Wednesday on the rise and extension of a tax that is a key part of the government's fiscal emergency plan. That same day, a joint session of Congress is slated to continue voting on six of the 10 remaining provisional measures linked to the social security-reform bill, approved earlier this month. Government-allied party leaders in the upper house decided Tuesday that they will propose to extend the financial transactions tax, known as CPMF, increasing it to 0.38% in 1999 from the current 0.20%, and back to 0.30% in 2000 and 2001. The current CPMF, a temporary tax introduced two years ago, expires on Jan. 1 and is charged on all banking operations such as withdrawals and transfers. The increase and extension of the tax is part of the government's Fiscal Stabilization Plan, introduced Oct. 28 and which seeks to save 28 billion reals (BRR) ($1=BRR1.19) in 1999 alone. The plan is linked to the granting of the $41.5 billion multilateral IMF-led emergency rescue package for Brazil announced last Friday. The rise and extension of the tax is projected to earn the government BRR15.3 billion in 1999. The approval of the CPMF proposals is subject to a three-fifths majority in two rounds of voting in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. -By William Vanvolsem; 5561 244 3095; wvanvolsem@ap.org