As if things couldn’t get any worse for the Latin American economic powerhouse of Brazil, yesterday the IMF and other economic forecasters cut it’s growth rating yet again, claiming it will contract another 3.5% this year. That’s a large revision down from the 1% initially forecast.
A slowdown in China, Brazil’s biggest export buyer, as well as a continued slump in the price of oil and other commodities Brazil is largely dependent on, combined with some of the country’s top politicians and business people being involved in a huge and ongoing corruption scandal have all combined to set any possible recovery back this coming year.
Brazil fell deep into a recession last year, losing 4.5% of its GDP and seeing inflation skyrocket.
2016 is going to be no better for Brazil, and an official revision downwards will do nothing to boost much-needed confidence and capital inflow.