Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has let her Defence Minister Nelson Jobim go after he made disparaging remarks about fellow ministers. Jobim reportedly called one fellow minister a "weakling" and described others as "idiots".

Jobim is the third minister to lose his job since Rousseff's inauguration in January. He will be replaced by former foreign minister Celso Amorim. Jobim is one of several ministers who also served under Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

It has been reported in recent weeks that Jobim has been making crude remarks about fellow ministers; he went even further at an opposition event by saying he was surrounded by "idiots".

There has also been speculation that Jobim was disgruntled with Rousseff for overruling him on a multi-billion dollar contract to buy fighter jets. He caused further controversy when he admitted in a television interview that he had voted for Rousseff's opponent Jose Serra in last year's presidential election.

Jobim is the third minister to go since Rousseff took office on 1st January. Last month, her Transport Minister Alfredo Nascimento resigned over a corruption scandal and in June her chief of staff, Antonio Palocci, stepped down in the face of questions about his rapid accumulation of personal wealth.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, The Guardian

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

Rousseff secures first victory over minimum wage bill

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has secured her first victory in a bid to curb government spending when the Senate voted to pass the government's monthly minimum wage bill.

The senators voted to raise the minimum wage by 6.8 per cent to 545 Reals and rejected two opposition proposals to lift the wage to a higher amount. By shunning the other proposals, the lawmakers avoided undermining the government's plan to trim 50 billion Reals from its budged. According to government estimates, more than two thirds of pensions and safety net-payments are indexed to the wage, so every one- Real increase raises annual spending by 300 million Reals.

On Wednesday 16th February, Rousseff's coalition in the lower house rejected opposition proposals to raise the wage to 560 Reals and 600 Reals. The vote sent yields lower, as traders trimmed bets on interest rate increases.

Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, The Canadian Press

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.

Brazil's Unions push for higher minimum wage

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff met with the country's unions to discusstheir demand for a higher minimum wage. Rousseff, who endorsed the increase in the past, is now faced with the challenge of trying to contain the already overstretched public spending budget.

Brazil's minimum wage rose 62 per cent under former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, but Rousseff wants to up the number by an additional 6.8 per cent this year to 545 Reals, using a formula set by the unions and Lula in 2006. The unions want the boost to go up to 580 Reals. If the goal of the unions is met, Rousseff's plans to curb spending needed to cool inflation will be put on hold.

Under the formula, spending is already set to increase 10 billion Reals this year because pension benefits are indexed to the wage. The pressure on resources is being compounded by Rousseff's pledge to invest 955 billion Reals to modernise the country's airports and carry out infrastructure improvements ahead of hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

In a speech at the opening session of Congress on 2nd February, Rousseff told lawmakers she was committed to “maintaining a macro-economic policy compatible with fiscal balance, a firm control of inflation and rigorous use of public money.” While promising to continue Lula's policy of granting workers' wage increases above inflation, she said stable rules needed to be put in place so that the salary gains are “compatible with the state's financial capacity.” The vote on minimum wage increase is expected to take place in March.

Sources: FT, Latin America Monitor, Bloomberg

For more news and expert analysis about Brazil, please see Brazil Focus.