A Report on Brazil
1. Introduction and general country overview
Being the fifth largest country in the world by surface area and population, and recently emerging as one of the fastest growing global economies , Brazil can hardly be overlooked as a potential target of investment, especially in the light of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Nevertheless, an immediate word of caution is at place here. Even though Brazil is 25% of the highly hyped BRIC-countries, the engine seems to show some hiccups, as it is revealed that due to high interest rates and an overly appreciated national currency, the Brazilian economy in 2011 had its second-worst performance since 2003 (2.7% growth versus 7.5% in 2010) . As a result, Brazil is losing international competitiveness and is being outperformed by its fellow BRIC-nations . This is also noted in a recent report from Nasdaq, in which it is claimed that a central bank survey showed forecasts of a growing inflation and declining economic growth .
Notwithstanding these recent hiccups, the fact that Brazil is still in the investor spotlight is, however, not the result of a logical and benign transition. As did many Latin-American nations in the second half of the twentieth century, Brazil too found itself temporarily under the yoke of rightist regimes. In 1964, a successful coup d’etat aimed at the socialist rule of president Goulart hurled Brazil into 21 years of military dictatorship, culminating in the extreme rightist rule of president Medici in the early seventies. Economically, this led to a steep growth (based on large construction projects), but it only benefitted the rich percentiles of the oppressed population . The welcome change came in 1985, when Brazil set out an a course towards democracy; a goal finally attained during the presidency of Lula da Silva, and his successor Dilma Rousseff.
Brazil has the world sixth largest economy by nominal GDP. Its economy can be divided into three components: agriculture, industry
Being the fifth largest country in the world by surface area and population, and recently emerging as one of the fastest growing global economies , Brazil can hardly be overlooked as a potential target of investment, especially in the light of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Nevertheless, an immediate word of caution is at place here. Even though Brazil is 25% of the highly hyped BRIC-countries, the engine seems to show some hiccups, as it is revealed that due to high interest rates and an overly appreciated national currency, the Brazilian economy in 2011 had its second-worst performance since 2003 (2.7% growth versus 7.5% in 2010) . As a result, Brazil is losing international competitiveness and is being outperformed by its fellow BRIC-nations . This is also noted in a recent report from Nasdaq, in which it is claimed that a central bank survey showed forecasts of a growing inflation and declining economic growth .
Notwithstanding these recent hiccups, the fact that Brazil is still in the investor spotlight is, however, not the result of a logical and benign transition. As did many Latin-American nations in the second half of the twentieth century, Brazil too found itself temporarily under the yoke of rightist regimes. In 1964, a successful coup d’etat aimed at the socialist rule of president Goulart hurled Brazil into 21 years of military dictatorship, culminating in the extreme rightist rule of president Medici in the early seventies. Economically, this led to a steep growth (based on large construction projects), but it only benefitted the rich percentiles of the oppressed population . The welcome change came in 1985, when Brazil set out an a course towards democracy; a goal finally attained during the presidency of Lula da Silva, and his successor Dilma Rousseff.
Brazil has the world sixth largest economy by nominal GDP. Its economy can be divided into three components: agriculture, industry