Brazil’s markets rattled by Senate head ousting
The removal of president indicted for embezzlement threatens the South American giant’s austerity agenda
Brasilia — Brazil’s currency and stocks seesawed on Tuesday as a Supreme Court decision to remove the Senate president because he has been indicted on embezzlement charges raised doubts about coming votes on the state’s austerity agenda. Newspaper O Globo reported that the next president of Brazil’s Senate, a member of the opposition, said he would suspend votes on reforms including a proposed constitutional cap on public spending. Senator Jorge Viana is in line to lead the Senate once the Supreme Court officially notified Renan Calheiros of his removal on Tuesday. Viana belongs to the leftist Workers Party, which opposes President Michel Temer’s austerity programme. Austerity Approval Brazil’s currency fell as much as 1% in early trading, but later pared loses. The benchmark Bovespa stock index fell 0.5% on the latest political turmoil in a country struggling with a deep recession and vast corruption scandal. By midday, the index was in positive territory. "It seems the approval of...
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