BrazzilMag

Brazil's Minister of Justice, Márcio Thomaz Bastos, said that the Brazilian government is willing to make it as easy as possible for people to disarm. "We shall start a snowball rolling that will never stop.

Female participation in the working world in Brazil is marked by far lower salaries than men who perform the same functions, as well as greater obstacles to pursuing a career. They are the first to be fired in times of crisis, and they face greater difficulties in finding new jobs.

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Rodrigo Rato, said today, in a note released by the institution, that increased Brazilian government investment is important to raise productivity and remove the bottlenecks that block economic development.

The National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES) informed in Rio de Janeiro that the institution's Program to Strengthen Employment and Income Generation Capacity, announced by the Minister of Development, Luiz Fernando Furlan, is already available to Brazilian companies of all sizes to finance working capital.

Brazil government's intention is to reach 6.5 million families with its Family Voucher (Bolsa Familia) program, which has a US$ 1.97 billion (5.8 billion reais) budget this year. In this programa, each family gets on average US$ 25 a month.

The new Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Rodrigo Rato, arrived today in Brazil to meet with the Minister of Finance, Antônio Palocci. However, the Fund's Latin American Affairs Secretary, Francisco Baker, disclosed that Rato's visit is not for the purpose of negotiations.

At the end of a seminar this week on Mercosur economic relations, the possibility of establishing a common parliament for the four member countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) was discussed.

The Cost of Living index in the municipality of São Paulo, Brazil's largest city,  rose 0.69% in August, compared to 1.21% in July, reports the union-linked socio-economic study institute Dieese (Departamento Intersindical de Estatística e Estudos Sócio-Econômicos). Dieese says the September index should be about the same as August.

The Brazilian market for organic food has been steadily growing at 30% a year. That works out to a market worth around US$ 200 million which has become an internatioanal gold standard for its quality, especially in soybeans, coffee and sugar.