Brasília – The world crisis should prompt a decline of approximately US$ 40 billion in Brazilian exports compared with 2008. The analysis was made today (1st) by the secretary of Foreign Trade of the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Welber Barral.
He believes that the result, by the end of the year, should be even lower than the US$ 160 billion previously forecasted by the ministry. The most likely estimate is that the figure should be close to the one recorded in 2007, i.e. US$ 158 billion, much less than the US$ 198 billion recorded in 2008. According to Barral, it should take the country two or three years to attain the volume shipped last year.
To the secretary, Brazilian exports are reflecting the reduction of global demand. “Domestic demand is doing very well. The problem is that other countries are not recovering at the same pace as Brazil is,” he said.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
