Brazil now back among the BRICs, says Santander´s Odair Abate

Brazil is now firmly back among the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – and the RICs is a thing of the past. Furthermore, the crisis which is sweeping through the US and European financial systems will not affect the Brazilian economy which is set to grow by 4.2% this year. This is the view of Odair Abate, chief strategist of Santander Private Bank, who also believes the Real will remain strong against the dollar and thinks the Central Bank is unlikely to raise interest rates. At the same time, he says much still needs to be done to consolidate the gains made in recent years, particularly in terms of improving the country´s infrastructure. Read his full interview in Brazil Political and Business Comment

You can also read John Fitzpatrick´s article Let Brazilians Sort Out the Problems of the Amazon in which he challenges a call by The Independent newspaper of London for the creation of a “Marshall Plan” fund to prevent the Amazon rainforest being destroyed. Here is an excerpt: “The destruction of the Amazon forest is a subject dear to the heart of the foreign media and environmental organizations but of virtually no interest to the majority of Brazilians… Foreigners tend to see the Amazon problem the way George Bush saw Iraq i.e. a situation in which the good guys should take over from the bad guys and educate the locals over the errors of their ways.” 

Brazil Political and Business Comment also features an interview with Gilberto Meiches, director of investor relations of Banco Sofisa of São Paulo.  Meiches believes Brazil´s banks are in no danger from the international financial crisis, thanks to the growing domestic demand for credit and discusses how middle market banks like Sofisa are opening their capital to raise resources to meet this demand. No fewer than 10 middle market banks were listed in 2007 with strong by foreign investors who now hold 80% of Sofisa´s shares.

John Fitzpatrick, founder of Brazil Political and Business Comment, has been invited to become a regular contributor to Denmark´s leading newspaper, Politiken, which has a readership of 300,000. “This is a great chance to present readers in Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia with a view of Brazil as a dynamic country which deserves a more comprehensive coverage in the foreign media,” he said. Fitzpatrick has also appeared several times recently on Jamaica´s News Talk radio station and has contributed to a book on the changes Brazil has undergone over the last 30 years to be published shortly by the São Paulo Foreign Correspondents Association.

For further information:
Tel: (5511) 9156 8366/3088 5233
E-mail: jf@celt.com.br or johnfitz@terra.com.br

Site: www.brazilpoliticalcomment.com.br