Washington, DC – International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde (pictured above) said this Thursday (19) that Brazil is back on track to growth, but needs to push through with economic reforms. According to her, this growth “is probably attributable to some of the key reforms which have been undertaken, not all yet.”
Lagarde said that in light of Brazil’s debt burden, “it is time to actually do this intelligent fiscal consolidation, gradual over time and growth-friendly, so that while continuing to encourage this growth process.” On the fiscal reforms underway in Brazil, she said caution regarding public spending and tax collection is a “subtle exercise” for all ministers of Finance.
On Tuesday (17), the IMF changed up its growth forecasts for Brazil to 2.3% in 2018 and 2.5% in 2019. The forecasts are up 0.4 percentage points from the last report, which had been issued in January. According to the Fund, numbers were fueled by a hike in investment and private consumption in Brazil. In its World Economic Outlook report, the IMF advises Brazil to follow through with a Social Security reform.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum