Expensive energy, poor infrastructure and increasing labour costs - known as "Custo Brasil" or the "Brazil Cost" - have weighed on growth, analysts say.

BBC: Brazil economy slows unexpectedly

One survivor, 24-year-old Mariana Magalhaes, told Brazil's state-run Agencia Brasil news agency, that she witnessed the band's singer unsuccessfully trying to put out the fire with an extinguisher.

CNN: Harrowing stories emerge from nightclub's ashes

Last month CADE threatened to undo the 2009 merger that formed Brasil Foods, the leading firm in Brazil's processed-food market.

ECONOMIST: Competition policy in Brazil

Brazil hopes its plan, announced on Wednesday, to allow government-controlled Banco do Brasil and Caixa Economica Federal to purchase shares in private financial institutions will eventually succeed in shoring up the market.

BBC: Turmoil in Latin American markets