Aurelia Butler

BRASILIA (Reuters) – The Brazilian government projected on Thursday that the country’s debt will reach 79.6% of gross domestic product in 2023, rising to 80.3% in 2024 and remaining at that level in 2025.That compares with a 79.6% level currently, according to the central bank, signaling that the government expects a mild expansion in the coming years of its main fiscal sustainability indicator.The figures are contained in the 2023 budget bill sent to Congress, which sets a fiscal primary deficit target of 65.9 billion reais ($14.02 billion) for central government accounts next year, as Reuters previously reported.The central government accounts comprise the results of the Treasury, social security and the central bank. Brazil’s Economy Ministry recently projected a 66.9 billion reais primary deficit for this year.Figures have been negative since 2014, with fiscal deterioration taking gross debt far from the average for emerging countries, which stands at about 50% of GDP.The government foresees in the budget bill that in 2024 it will report a deficit of 27.9 billion reais. In 2025, after 11 years of straight shortfalls, the balance will move into the positive field, at 33.7 billion reais.Economy Minister Paulo Guedes has said that better fiscal numbers after the record deficit posted on the back of the COVID-19 blow in 2020 demonstrate the country’s commitment to fiscal responsibility. Many analysts, however, believe this year’s presidential elections will take candidates, including President Jair Bolsonaro, who is seeking a second term, to bet on more populist rhetoric, leaving fiscal discipline aside.($1 = 4.7013 reais) More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The board of governors of the Inter-American Development Bank has approved a resolution to hire an outside firm to investigate allegations that IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, sources familiar with the decision said on Thursday.Some countries were still voting on the issue, but sufficient support was reached to proceed with the investigation, two of the sources said.IDB directors met twice last week to discuss allegations that Claver-Carone had carried out an intimate relationship with a staff member, Reuters reported exclusively.A spokesperson for the Latin American regional development bank declined to comment about the vote.At an online event on Friday, Claver-Carone said he was the target of an “anonymous political media campaign” and hoped to have the opportunity to defend himself. He could not be immediately reached for comment about the board vote on Thursday.Claver-Carone did not directly address the specific allegations, which were made in an anonymous letter.It was not immediately clear which firm would be engaged to carry out the investigation.An anonymous email sent to the board of directors of the bank and the bank’s ethics officer at the end of March accused Claver-Carone of carrying out a relationship with a senior strategist who reported to him, according to the bank source with direct knowledge of the meeting. Reuters has not seen the email. The email also accused Claver-Carone and the staffer of misusing IDB funds, one source said, without giving more detail.The IDB’s ethics code on its website states: “You cannot participate in any employment-related decisions about someone with whom you have an intimate relationship.” More

“While the Fed cannot do much to ameliorate the supply issues that are increasing inflation, we can begin to affect demand,” Harker said in remarks prepared for delivery at Rider University in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. The speech reiterated Harker’s recent views on the outlook and the effect of tighter monetary policy, which he said will help reduce economic growth this year to around 3.5% and to 2% to 2.5% in the next couple years. Inflation too “should begin to taper” this year, he said, ending 2022 at around 4% and over the next couple years falling to the Fed’s 2% target. Fed policymakers began raising rates last month with a quarter-of-a-percentage point increase, and are expected to accelerate their pace of policy tightening when they next meet in May. Interest rate futures traders currently expect the Fed to deliver half-point interest rate hikes at its next three meetings before returning to quarter-point hikes for the last three meetings of the year. That would bring the Fed’s policy rate, now in the range of 0.25% to 0.5%, to a range of 2.5% to 2.75% by the end of the year. More

Happy Friday. How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz. Singapore’s finance minister Lawrence Wong has been made prime ministerial heir apparent, as the ruling People’s Action Party seeks to recover public support and bolster the city-state’s status as an international financial hub. Lee Hsien Loong, prime minister since 2004, announced on social media late on Thursday that ministers had backed Wong to be leader of the ruling People’s Action Party’s so-called “fourth generation team” with “overwhelming support”. The fourth generation team is a group of younger ministers lined up to take the reins of the governing party, putting its leader on course to be the next prime minister. “This decision on succession is a crucial one for Singapore,” Lee said. “It will ensure the continuity and stability of leadership that are the hallmarks of our system.” Wong, 49, would be only the fourth leader of the quasi-authoritarian state in its 56-year history. The announcement comes as the PAP, which has governed since independence and transformed Singapore into an international business centre, faces pressure to control immigration and navigate an increasingly divided geopolitical environment.Do think Lawrence Wong is the right choice to be Singapore’s prime minister? Tell me what you think at [email protected]. Thanks for reading FirstFT Asia — EmilyThe latest from the war in Ukraine:Breaking news: Russia’s flagship naval vessel in the Black Sea, the Moskva, has sunk, the country’s defence ministry confirmed.Inflation: Policymakers at central banks in Singapore and South Korea have become the latest to tighten monetary policy as the war in Ukraine stokes global inflation.Sanctions: The UK is to freeze an estimated £10bn of assets held by two longstanding business associates of Roman Abramovich. Catch up with our explainer on why the US has only hit some Russian oligarchs with sanctions.Wall Street: US banks this week detailed billions of dollars in potential losses from the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while warning that they saw no end in sight for the market turbulence.Opinion: Western voters face a choice: peace in Ukraine or keeping on the air con as the war pushes energy prices up, writes Gillian Tett.Five more stories in the news1. Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter at $43bn valuation The Tesla boss has made a hostile bid for Twitter with an offer that values the company at $43.4bn, although he acknowledged his gambit to take the social media platform private may fail.2. China escalates zero-Covid propaganda China’s official Xinhua news agency published an article today warning that the country’s medical system risked “breaking down” in the event of a mass Covid outbreak. It follows comments from President Xi Jinping who yesterday called on citizens to “overcome complacency” in “response to the virus’s mutation”.More on China’s Covid outbreak: Volkswagen’s sales in China slowed significantly in the first quarter of 2022 amid renewed Covid shutdowns, while the owner of Uniqlo warned of a big profit drop owing to China’s Covid-19 curbs.

3. Pakistan army dismisses Imran Khan’s US conspiracy claim In rare public comments on Thursday, Major General Babar Iftikhar, the army’s spokesperson, denied Imran Khan’s assertions that Pakistan’s national security committee had concluded last month that there was a conspiracy to end the former cricket star’s premiership. 4. Isis ‘Beatles’ member convicted A US jury found Isis fighter El Shafee Elsheikh, a former British citizen, guilty of all counts in the case, including hostage-taking resulting in death and conspiracy to murder US citizens outside the country. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.5. German spies rejected offer to meet Wirecard’s Marsalek in Moscow Germany’s foreign intelligence service last year shunned an offer to meet former Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek in Moscow, fearing that the invitation to talk to the fugitive was a trap set up by Russia’s FSB spy agency, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.The days aheadSongkran The Thai new year, marked in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and other parts of south and south-eastern Asia, will be celebrated through the weekend. Some markets in the region will be closed today.North Korea’s Day of the Sun The reclusive state will celebrate the birthday of its first leader Kim Il Sung.Easter and Passover Markets across the world from Singapore to the UK and US will be closed in honour of Good Friday. Passover also begins at sundown the same day. In Vatican City on Sunday, Pope Francis will lead Easter Mass in St Peter’s Square.The Invictus Games The competition for wounded, sick and injured service personnel begins in The Hague on Saturday. Join us for the FT’s Crypto and Digital Assets summit on April 26-27. Register today to be part of a critical conversation with the world’s global financial and corporate elite, as they carve out the path ahead for bridging traditional finance and the crypto leaders of tomorrow. What else we’re readingThe succession crisis threatening Japan’s economy The world’s third-largest economy was built on craftsmanship and family enterprise, but Japan’s rapidly shrinking and ageing population means a shortage of heirs now jeopardises that legacy.FT interview: Panasonic boss The Japanese electronics conglomerate expects the rollout of its next-generation electric vehicle battery to help the company diversify its business from Tesla, as it refocuses after a period of aggressive restructuring, Yuki Kusumi, told the FT’s Eri Sugiura and Antoni Slodkowski.The corner of France that explains the country’s political divide To understand the forces reshaping French politics, one only needs to visit the booming city of Bordeaux in south-west France — and the rural areas and small towns in the “crescent of poverty” around it.The tortuous route of Toshiba’s path to auction A charitable take on things would be that Toshiba has reached the auction process via the scenic route. Another view, given that the sights along the way have included accounting fraud, a brush with bankruptcy, multiple chief executive resignations and war with investors, is that this company is lost, writes Leo Lewis.The new online learning entrepreneurs The pandemic sparked growth in online MBAs and normalised digital corporate training and remote school learning. Now, solo entrepreneurs are seeking niches where they can earn money from students who want to gain à la carte career skills that are not covered in traditional classrooms.BooksThe great renaissance in pandemic times of page-turning pleasure highlights the remarkable resilience of the classic reading format. Three new works about books shed light on why the technology of bound pages remains so remarkably resilient.

The spectacular interior of the Zhongshuge bookstore in Dujiangyan, China © Zhang Lang/China News Service/Getty Images More