Recent research undertaken by the Exame magazine indicated that borrowing levels for consumer goods and services (largely by the middle classes and above) have reached levels never witnessed before – tripling over the last 5 years, despite the 8 rises in the SELIC base interest rate over the last 16 months.
Whilst commending Brazil for becoming a global force, an article in the Financial Times has criticised a number of issues that have been seemingly ignored including poverty, crime and inequality.
Full results of the Brazilian Census undertaken in quarter 3 of 2010 revealed a range of statistics that, whilst several debate are questionable in terms of real time accuracy, provide some broad based indications for the future of business and real estate in the country.
The debate with regards to a credit bubble in Brazil was further fuelled by recent comments in the Financial Times made by Paul Marshall, CIO at Marshall Wace and co-manager of the Eureka Fund, that – as a result a rapid credit growth which has exceeded Russia, India and China – Brazil is on the course of a ‘sub prime’ type crisis witnessed in the USA in 2007. The comments subsequently caused a stir in the Brazilian media with a number of leading figures from finance related industries voicing their opinions in an article in the Estadão newspaper.
A recorded interview we undertook with Bruno Saraiva, a Brazilian economist and sociologist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). We discussed a range of issues related to his work in Brazil including short / medium / long term growth prospects; Brazil’s positioning on the global stage; the relationship with other economies both developed and developing; impending challenges; housing policy; dealing with the issue favelas; the new government’s understanding of the needs of poorer sections of society; other infrastructural projects being undertaken by the IADB and the country’s relatively low positioning on the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom amongst other subjects.
Interview with the author of “The New Brazil”, Riordan Roett (professor of international studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC) – we discuss the main economic growth characteristics of the country; the issues / problems; inflationary pressures on the economy; Brazil as a world ’superpower’; its position in relation to the other BRICs; the China / Brazil relationship; the United State’s attitude to the country; the country’s political stability amongst other topics.
A short news post discussing recent statistics published by a leading Brazilian research agency, the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) pointing to lower unemployment and higher wage levels in the country. For updated unemployment and other useful statistics please subscribe to the ‘Brazil Real Estate & Land Investment Guide’ to gain full access to our monthly factfiles.
A 2010 interview with three of the leaders of the major hotel groups in Brazil: Atlantica Hotels International, InterContinental Hotels Group and the Accor Group. We look into a range of issues including the history and growth potential of the industry; challenges; the effects of the global downturn; currency risks; the organisations individual expansion plans in the country and several other topics.
An extended interview with Marcos Fidalgo from Brazil’s Serasa organisation – the leading credit agency of its type in both South and Central America. We discuss some issues of particular importance for real estate and land investors with regards to Brazil’s ever-growing financial sector including the organisation’s experience; differences of the Serasa’s credit system compared to other parts of the world; Brazil’s current economic behaviour and its relationship with the credit industry; the growth of the credit market; availability of credit in the short, medium and long term; how Brazilian banks analyse loan applications; the future of Brazilian secured lending for overseas investors as well as using Serasa’s services and anti-fraud measures.
January 2010 Brazil Real Estate and Land Investor Newsletter
