LatinNews Daily - 18 February 2022

* Brazil’s economy minister, Paulo Guedes, has defended the country’s fiscal record and potential for growth during an event with fellow finance ministers from G20 countries. During the hybrid meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, Guedes listed Brazil’s improved primary deficit – which fell from close to 10% of GDP last year to a small surplus this year –, the decrease of public debt, to 80% of GDP, and a drop in public spending, to argue that “These are achievements which few economies in the world gained. Pessimistic projections have proven themselves to be consistently wrong. We have maintained solid fiscal foundations”. Guedes added that Brazil is now ready for growth, citing the country’s economic recovery in 2021 from the hit of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Despite Guedes’s optimism, forecasts for Brazil’s economy this year are muted: most financial institutions currently predict around 0.5% GDP growth for Brazil, while the latest forecast by the market analysts surveyed weekly by the central bank (BCB) is for just 0.3% growth in 2022.

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