With veteran Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva falling two points short of the 50 percent needed to be elected outright in early October, Sunday’s vote will reflect how entrenched “Bolsonarismo” is in rural areas at the heart of a burgeoning but ecologically destructive commodity trade. Brazil’s interior has seen major agribusiness purges of cattle, soybeans and corn during Jair Bolsonaro’s first term in office. This has reversed the decline in deforestation rates between 2003 and 2015. Opposition to state intervention has fueled support for Bolsonaro this election campaign, although he has nevertheless sought to secure the support of poorer voters with a 50 percent increase in welfare payments. The stakes are high for indigenous communities who have suffered reprisals at the hands of illegal loggers, while being overlooked by lawmakers who seek to allow raw materials to be extracted from reserves without their consent. On Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu will be poised to stage a coup in Israel’s fifth election in less than four years. The leader of a right-wing bloc, he is seeking to overcome a small deficit in the election to take a majority in the Knesset and return as the nation’s prime minister. In the US, the upcoming midterms mean that presidents past and present are campaigning to support candidates. The final 72 hours of the campaign will see President Joe Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump appear in Pennsylvania, while Trump will also hold a rally in Florida to close out the weekend.
Companies
Brazilian gas company Petrobras is set to release third-quarter results on Thursday. The company suffered from multi-billion dollar corruption when leftists were last in power in Brazil. Bolsonaro has previously talked about privatizing Petrobras, although Lula’s manifesto called for its return as a “integrated energy company” with his party aspiring to lead the nation’s clean energy transition. The company’s shares fell last week after a poll showed Lula would oust Bolsonaro in Sunday’s runoff. It was among many to miss the poll, although it also reported that oil production for the third quarter fell 6.8 percent compared to the same period last year.
Financial data
On Wednesday the US Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision. Policymakers fear that strong wage growth has kept inflation high, although officials have suggested that the central bank should start preparing to slow rate hikes. Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the country’s commerce department on Friday showed that wages for citizens in the third quarter rose 1.2 percent, while personal consumption rose 0.5 percent. The Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points on Thursday to 3%. Prices have seriously hampered homeowners, with the spillover into the rental market. In a survey published on Friday, the UK’s Office for National Statistics found that half of British respondents with a mortgage said they were worried about a change in interest rates. Two in three people were also spending less on non-essentials and reducing their use of gas and electricity. Monday’s planned UK budget statement has been replaced by an autumn statement to be issued by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on 17 November. Read the full calendar for the week here.
