Weekly Report - 19 July 2012 (WR-12-28)

BRAZIL | Congress heads for the hills. Congress approved the Draft Budgetary Guidelines Law for 2013 (LDO) on Tuesday, allowing it to head into a two-week recess from 18 July to 1 August. The negotiations went down to the wire after the opposition refused to accept a government proposal to allow more flexible tendering rules for the state oil giant Petrobras, a proposal heavily criticised by the Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU). The proposal, though earlier given the nod by the joint budget committee, was excluded from the finally approved version of the LDO. The congressional president, Marco Maia of the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores, also managed to sway the opposition with an executive promise for the release of some additional pork barrel funds ahead of October’s scheduled municipal elections.

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