Venezuela prices jump 19.9 per cent in a month as annual inflation hits 579.96 per cent
Venezuela prices rose 19.9 per cent in July, taking annual inflation to 579.96 per cent. Braskem Idesa filed a prepackaged Chapter 11 to cut senior debt, and Vale and Accenture asked Brazil's next government to speed permitting.
Economics & Markets··Night
July prices in Venezuela rise 19.9 per cent; annual inflation at 579.96 per cent
Consumer prices in Venezuela rose 579.96 per cent in the year to July 2026, and figures the central bank BCV released show a 19.9 per cent jump in July alone. Cumulative inflation for the first seven months of 2026 reached 175.5 per cent, and the annual rate had stood near 544 per cent in June. Argentina, the region's next-highest, ran annual inflation near 34 per cent in July 2026, leaving Venezuela's rate more than fifteen times higher. The BCV publishes only sporadically and analysts treat its figures with caution, so independent monitors such as the Observatorio Venezolano de Finanzas usually fill the gaps. Separately, a housing rental law in force since 7 August 2026 lets landlord and tenant agree a rent freely and allows rent to be charged in foreign currency, with deposits capped at up to three months and eviction routed through the courts. It applies only to contracts signed after that date.[1]
Braskem Idesa files a prepackaged Chapter 11 to cut senior debt
Braskem Idesa lodged a prepackaged Chapter 11 case, a court-supervised reorganization agreed with creditors in advance, in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on 18 August 2026, taking senior debt from about 2.5 billion dollars down to roughly 1.6 billion dollars. Parent Braskem SA is to contribute up to 476 million dollars of new capital, about 126 million dollars of which was already provided, and is to keep a majority stake. The unit skipped a coupon of 33.52 million dollars on 18 November 2025, on notes of 900 million dollars carrying a 7.45 per cent rate and maturing in 2029, and the five-day grace period lapsed without a cure. Fitch cut it to restricted default on 26 November 2025 and S&P moved it to D on 20 November 2025. Braskem SA owns about 75 per cent of the venture and Mexico's Grupo Idesa holds the rest; the plan removes more than 920 million dollars of senior debt while the ethylene complex in Veracruz keeps running.[2]
Vale and Accenture ask Brazil to speed mining permits
Vale launched a study in Brasília on Tuesday, prepared with Accenture, arguing that Brazil's annual mineral output could rise from about 300 billion reais to as much as 535 billion reais in 2035 if 15 proposed measures are adopted. The document is a policy agenda rather than a forecast or an investment plan, and it is to be handed to every candidate in the October 2026 presidential election. The study puts the ceiling at 99 billion dollars a year against about 55 billion dollars today, and says employment supported directly, indirectly and through induced demand could rise from about 3 million to 5.3 million. It values the sector's contribution over 2026 to 2035 at 1.3 trillion reais, against about 750 billion reais in the previous decade. The 15 initiatives sit under four headings, and the concrete asks are on licensing: standardise permitting, make it predictable, and strengthen the agencies that run it — Ibama, Iphan, ICMBio, Funai and the state environment secretariats — rather than bypass them. Other proposals cover modernising mineral title management, geological mapping partnerships with the Serviço Geológico do Brasil, more processing inside Brazil, and better use of the CFEM royalty paid to states and municipalities.[3]
