Shares in bakery firm Greggs rose 8% on the news but Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Reeves, described the policy reversal as "a total and utter shambles".

BBC: Pasty tax: U-turn 'a shambles' says Labour

On a sweltering afternoon in March, Eoin Slavin, an executive at Rio-based development firm Landis, wandered the mostly forgotten working-class neighborhoods in the shadow of the elevated highway searching for prospects.

WSJ: Rio Hopes for an Olympic-Style Revival