Posts Tagged ‘Economy’

Brazil lowest ever unemployment

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

May 2011, Brazil’s unemployment rate falls to the lowest rate ever, whilst the rest of the developed world struggles on. The jobless rate fell to 6.4 percent in May, the lowest since statistics began in 2002.

As Latin America’s biggest economy continues to hire more and more workers to meet growing domestic demand, average real wages also rose – by 4 percent year-on-year to 1,567 Reais (US$988) per month.

Record low unemployment coupled with a “substantial” increase in wages are an “important risk” for inflation and a driver of economic growth, central bank policy makes stated in their June board meeting.

For the full story on economic growth and control, visit Bloomberg.

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Brazil to be 5th largest economy within a decade!

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

Whilst the rest of the World struggles with what seems an unavoidable whirlpool of economic decent, Brazil’s story is a sharp contrast. With countries such as Spain suffering unprecedented unemployment levels around 15%, Brazil’s economic strength and stability has been proven with over 1m jobs created in 2009.

The final figures should range from 1.1m according to Labor Minister Carlos Lupi up to 1.3m if President Lula da Silva’s forecast is right. With a population of 190m this is not an enormous percentage increase, however for a country with a lower base salary and standard of living, these figures bring much needed help. More than the economic ripple throughout Brazil, these figures also bolster the growing confidence of a country that is now realising its full potential.

“Brazil is going through a magical moment in its economic life” Lula said, “At a time when the world is facing unemployment, we created 1.3m new jobs this year of crisis”. Lula was attending an event with automobile manufacturer Ford to unveil their investment in the country’s northeastern state of Bahia.

Brazil Taking off

As the world’s 5th largest landmass, one rich in natural resources from oil to minerals to biofuel crops, with new offshore oilfields recently discovered and increasing mineral demand from Asia, Brazil’s economic growth has already returned to an annualised rate of 5% of GDP. Along with established manufacturing industries from aircraft to mobile phone manufacture, Labor Minister Lupi expects to create a further 2m jobs in 2010.

When Brazil’s growth rates, resources and economic stability are compared to the collapsing developed economies it is evident that Brazil’s meteoric rise will occur far sooner than predicted. Goldman Sachs originally forecast that Brazil would become a major player around 2040, according to growth rates in 2001. What a change 18 months can make. Unless France and Britain can pull themselves out of their current spiral, and sort some serious fundamental economic challenges ahead, then Brazil will be recognised as one of the most powerful countries within the decade. Watch this space.

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Brazil 2016 Olympics

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy, Tourism.

Congratulations to Brazil for winning the bid to host the 2016 Olympics! As the country says farewell to football fans around the world in 2014, just two years later a new influx of sporting professionals will be making their way to Rio de Janeiro for the 31st Olympic Games. A remarkable achievement for the south American city considering they bid against Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid and this is further evidence of the giant strides the country is making under the leadership of President Lula. During his acceptance speech the rightfully proud President stated “I confess to you if I die right now my life would have been worth it”. And he may be right, the effects on the economy of hosting the Olympic games cannot be underestimated.

Investment into infrastructure will take place on unprecedented scales, as transport and communication lines are upgraded to leave a lasting legacy, long after the final Olympian has returned home. A major event like this puts the country firmly on the global radar, the influx of foreign arrivals is likely to increase by the thousands and for those that enjoyed themselves, they are likely to want to come again giving a boost to the hotels and tourism industry. Crime is also predicted to fall as the city comes under increased scrutiny from the world’s media and the Olympic Committee. Finally, a large increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) especially in construction will create thousands of jobs from as early as next year. The knock on effects for the economy are going to be huge.

So congratulations to Rio de Janeiro and President Lula for securing the vote, the next decade in Brazil is certainly going to so very exciting, and if you like sport then you don’t need to think about anywhere else!

The Olympics in Rio

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GDP growth forecast 5% by Goldman Sachs

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

Brazil’s National Economic and Social Development Bank has forecasted an average annual GDP growth of 4% between now and 2012. Luciano Coutinho, president, also pointed out that by the end of 2009 Brazil’s foreign exchange reserves will reach around US$ 225bn.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sach’s chief economist Jim O’neill has stated that the Brazilian economy has come through the global financial crisis extremely well and predicts 5% pa growth over the next few years.

http://investinoverseasproperty.blogspot.com/2009/08/goldman-sachs-forecast-on-brazil-overly.html

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Brazil’s new oil fields to drive economy & jobs

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

Following the discovery of the deep-sea oil fields off the coast of Brazil, which geologists estimate could hold tens of billions of barrels of oil, Brazil’s economy is well positioned. This is even more the case now following the Brazilian governments announcement that they want the national oil company Petrobas to control over 62% of the oil fields’ exploration. Foreign companies will be consigned to financial investors, enabling Petrobas to make the important calls on development speed whilst enabling Brazil to provide more jobs to nationals. For the full story visit the New York Times; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/world/americas/18brazil.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a1

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“Brazil is the number one country in the world for investments” says billionaire Sam Zell

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Real Estate.

With Brazil at record-low interest rates, Latin America’s biggest economy is now attracting more investors than ever before. A 5% cut in interest rates to 8.75%, and a 34bn R$ (US$18bn) housing stimulus plan announced by the government in March have boosted demand for residential and commercial real estate investments said Thomas Macdonald of Equity Internationl.

“Brazil is the number one country in the world for investments” said billionaire Equity International owner Sam Zell in a CNBC interview on July 28th. Equity International has stakes in Gafisa, Brazil’s second largest real estate developer, as well as a 17% stake in BR Malls, Brazil’s biggest owner of shopping malls. Equity International now hope to open a real estate financing company to grow Brazil’s “still nascent” real estate financing market. The real estate investment company hasn’t found a partner yet to being operations and still may open its own company. Full story at Bloomberg.

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Brazil Real rises 4.7% against US$ in July alone

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

Gaining for the 5th month in a row, the Brazilian Real rose 4.7% against the US$ in July. The Real has risen a total of 24% against the US$ in 2009,  the best performer against the US$ out of the 16 most-traded curencies.

“As the Brazilian economy is expanding at a faster pace, foreign investors are snapping up the country’s equities and fixed-income assets” said Gerson de Nobrega, foreign exchange manager at Bando Alfa de Investimento SA.

Brazil’s trade surplus rose 23.8% in the first 6 months compares with the same period last year, as exports reached their highest level since November. Brazil had a $4.6bn trade surplus last month, the biggest since Dec 2006. Read the full report at Bloomberg.

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Brazil Economy to Grow 4% says Barbosa

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

According to Bloomberg, Brazil’s economic policy secretary Nelson Barbosa told O Globo newspaper that with falling interest rates he predicts the Brazilian economy to expand up to 4% by end of 2009.

“Brazil will grow 1% < 1.5% in the 2nd quarter compared with the previous quarter” he said. “The Central Bank still has space for more interest rate cuts”.

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Bye Bye G8, Hello G14

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

It seems that the combination of the global recession, the imminent rise of the new super powers and the realisation that greenhouse emissions will play a large part in the future global economy, has had a profound effect on the control of our future.

Where once the profound decisions where made by the G8, this fire-side gathering from the 70s (France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, only later joined by Canada and Russia) have finally succumbed to the realisation that they no longer call the shots.

Following the invitation to Brazilian President Lula de Silva to attend the recent G8 summit, numerous discussions were held over which countries are crucial for the decisions that will shape the future of the World. The obvious additions are to be India, China, Brazil and Mexico with South Africa and Egypt likely to attend the final roll-call.

Soon we will have the G14, representing over 80% of the Worlds economy, and so far more relevant when making the most important decisions. Full article on Times of India.

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Brazil ranked 2nd for venture capital investment behind China

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

With a stable and modern financial system that has largely escaped the credit crisis, a growing economy and a legal system that respects real estate rights investors see ample opportunity in Brazil, a sentiment echoed by Coller Capital who rank Brazil as the 2nd most attractive choice behind China but ahead of India. At the end of 2008, local and foreign investors had committed $28bn in venture and private equity capital to Brazilian companies, up from $6bn in 2004. Investors have financed over 500 Brazilian companies to date, and there’s $12bn left in the kitty.

Read full report in Business Week.

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Brazil, India and China bounce back together, without the West

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

The largest developing economies in the World are rebounding from recession much faster than the developed economies. Indeed for the BRIC this credit crunch has been more of a milestone than a recession, a point in time when the power shift occurred even more rapidly than ever. Whilst western economies continue to struggle, India and China both grew 6% y-o-y to March 09, and Brazil has rapidly regained ground and hopes to post a 4% growth by end 09. Of the BRIC, only Russia has felt the economic shock on a scale even worse than the US, a vast 9% due mainly to its dependency on oil.

So, Russia aside, the “big future three” seem to be getting along fine and seem content to work together and with other developing nations to achieve their goals. China is buying millions of acres of farmland in Africa and South-East Asia, and has overtaken America as Brazil’s largest export market, the latter being incredibly good news for Brazil, who is also now the largest exporter to India. China is using $2trn of its foreign reserves to invest in other emerging markets, an example of which is $10bn going in to Petrobas, Brazil’s state-run oil company.

Importantly Brazil is still not too dependent upon its exports, accounting for only 15% of its GDP … much smaller than developed economies. Investors should look for ways in to Brazil, India and China as their economies rebound and will catch up very fast over the coming decade.

For the full story read The Economist.

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Brazil real estate booms again

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Real Estate.

Brazil’s real estate market is booming again according to New York-based real estate private equity firm GoldenTree Insite. President Thomas Shapiro stated “we sold every unit in four hours” when referring to a recent 104-unit residential project in middle-class Sao Paulo launched two weeks ago at the start of June.

Shapiro said the fundamentals of the Brazilian economy looked better than expected for the year ahead and a stimulus package from the government had helped the real estate market heat up again. He outlined that the Brazilian upper class prefer hard assets when crises arrive, and discarded any signs of a real estate bubble occurring in Brazil. “Brazil was never leveraged” he said, adding “mortgages represent only 2% of Brazil GDP”.

From these simple facts the likelihood of a bubble is understandably reduced, and in a country with an 8-million housing deficit “buyers of these units are simply not speculators”. For the full report visit Reuters.

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China invests in Brazil more than ever

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

More money is flowing in to Brazil in 2009 than the year before, very good news for the Brazilian economy.

In June 09 alone the Central Bank of Brazil reported a surplus inflow amounting to $866 million, four times larger than the net financial outflow of $205 million. A net inflow of $661 million in the first half of June 2009 is much better than the net outflow of $143 million a year ago, but where is all this money coming from, and why?

As China recovers it has been buying goods from countries around the World. Countries it chooses to trade with. China started ordering more goods from Brazil in February of this year and, ever since, Brazil’s economy has been improving. Specifically, China is buying Brazil’s iron ore, airplanes, raw materials and agricultural products.

With a strong central bank at the helm to control inflation and manage these cashflows, we expect even more economic growth stories to come out of Brazil in the next few months.

For a full report see World Currency Watch.

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Brazil to grow above global average in 2009

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

Brazil’s economy is in a strong position to weather the financial crisis and will grow above the global average this year, Brazil’s Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles said on Sunday. ”We are in the process of reviewing our forecast but our estimate is that we will grow above the global average,” Meirelles told journalists during a meeting of Ibero-American finance officials in Portugal. He said Brazil’s economy was in a strong financial position, with $200 billion in net foreign reserves. “This will allow the country to face scarcity of international finance,” he said.

The government has said Brazil would grow 4% this year while economists think it may be closer to 1.5%. ”Brazil is confronting this crisis in a better position than in the past and more advantaged than many other regions of the world,” he said. Brazil was growing strongly but has been hit by the financial crisis as it experienced a sharp fall in the commodities it sells to the world. Meirelles said domestic demand continued to grow.

Full report from Reuters.

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Mortgages only 2% of the GDP in Brazil

Posted by Pioneer Land Group in Economy.

According to Tom Shapiro, president and founder of GoldenTree InSite Partners, a New York-based real estate investment firm, Brazil is not seeing the distress found in other markets.


“Mortgages account for only 2% of GDP in Brazil” he noted, “versus 65% in the United States and 74% in the UK, so consumers aren’t feeling the effects of credit contraction.” Demand is high, and unlike other markets that have seen rampant speculation, there hasn’t been any overdevelopment.

Shapiro said that his firm typically sees 40 < 50% of condominium units in a given complex sold within two weeks. Recently, GoldenTree sold 70% of the units in an office project in Sao Paulo in only 10 days.

Full article available from Latin Business Chronicle.

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