Brazil falls into recession

[Peter1469]

Brazil falls into recession

I also think that as the US tappers QE measures, less money makes its way into the emerging economies.

Brazil's economy, once an emerging-market darling, fell into recession, according to government data released Friday, as millions of new middle class citizens tightened their belts and further dampened a credit-driven spending spree.

London-based Capital Economics wrote in a research note that "it is consumption that has been the key driver of growth since the 2009 global financial crisis. But consumers are now struggling, in part because household balance sheets have become stretched following a decade-long credit boom."


After blistering 7.5 percent growth in 2010, Brazil's economy has limped along. The long, slow slide means there aren't any regional shocks expected from the official drop into recession, but it still darkens the horizon for Brazil's neighbors, many of whom send a large percentage of their exports into the nation.

[Green Arrow]

So much for BRICS.

[Peter1469]

That is what I was thinking.

[The Sage of Main Street]

Brazil falls into recession

I also think that as the US tappers QE measures, less money makes its way into the emerging economies.

In the partition of the backward nations' oil, I would give Brazil Angola's.

[waltky]

Venezuelan sympathies wearin' thin with Brazilians...

Brazilian town tires of Venezuelans
Fri, Mar 16, 2018 - REFUGEE PROBLEM: Pacaraima’s location close to the border have made it a popular choice for people fleeing political violence and Venezuela’s economic collapse

The remote Brazilian town of Pacaraima is used to outsiders — tourists curious about spectacular nearby mountains — but a sea of Venezuelan refugees is pushing locals’ hospitality to breaking point. Before, Pacaraima’s main attraction was its location near Monte Roraima in Venezuela, believed to have inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World fantasy adventure, but now the town has become a focal point for the exodus from economic collapse and political violence just across the border. Every day, between 500 and 1,200 impoverished Venezuelans come over the frontier into Pacaraima, swamping the sleepy community. The arrivals — designated refugees by the UN — sleep in the streets, cram into inadequate shelters and are blamed by some for problems such as increased prostitution. “It’s out of control,” said Catholic priest Father Jesus Lopez, who runs a soup kitchen for the Venezuelans in Pacaraima.

Venezuelans wait in a line in front of the Brazil Federal Police Office at the border town of Pacaraima, Brazil

Refugees are estimated to have swelled Pacaraima’s population of 12,000 by a third, but despite the increased traffic, the local economy is suffering. “There’s a lot of movement and little money. My sales have fallen because there are fewer tourists and they were the ones who brought in money,” said Zilma Rocha, who has a kitchen serving breakfasts. About the only people seeing an uptick in trade are the currency dealers, who sell the Brazilian real to their neighbors. Some supermarkets are also seeing new business, with Venezuelans crossing the border just to buy food they cannot afford or find back home. “Everything is cheaper here. Over there, 80 reais [US$25] won’t buy you anything, but with that amount here you can get rice, sugar, flour, butter, soap, biscuits, juice and hygiene products,” said Jonathan do Santos, who frequently makes the trip. “The lack of food in Venezuela has created opportunities here and our businesses are taking advantage of that,” said Ruan Silva, whose supermarket in Pacaraima is one of the few accepting the nearly worthless Venezuelan currency, the bolivar.

Lopez said Brazil’s government has not done enough to help communities like this prepare for the influx, but he understood the desperation driving the fugitives. “These people are running from hunger, from death,” he said. Most Venezuelans arriving in Pacaraima try to move straight on to the nearest sizeable city in Brazil’s Roraima state, Boa Vista, where much of the refugee aid is centered, but for some, that 215km trip — and the US$16 taxi ride — is a step too far. “We had planned to go to Boa Vista, but things sound terrible there,” said Jose Pena, 22, who had traveled more than 1,500km with his family from Carabobo in Venezuela. “We prefer to stay here,” he said, while tending a cooking fire. “At least here we can eat.” Abilio Mendez, 46, who traveled all the way from Puerto La Cruz on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, simply could not afford to go any further than Pacaraima. “It’s everything left in my life,” he said, pointing to his two suitcases. His solution for getting to Boa Vista? To set off under the punishing sun and try to walk.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worl.../16/2003689417