BRAZIL ECONOMICS
Analysts
Alexandre Schwartsman
Former Central Bank Deputy Governor
Cristina Pinotti
Former Chief Economist, DIVESPDatabanks
Recent Country Insights
The other deficit
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 15 Sep 2025
The balance of payments has been marked by a rapid increase in the current account deficit, while the financial account remains relatively stable. Most of the deterioration in the current account stems from rising imports in a context of demand pressures, but there is also a worsening in some ser...
A budget made in Hogwarts
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 08 Sep 2025
The administration has proposed a budget that, under optimistic assumptions, would result in a primary deficit of 0.17% of GDP in 2026. The projections rely on favorable revenue scenarios, which depend both on supportive economic conditions and on the approval by Congress of politically sensitive...
The consequences come afterwards
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 03 Sep 2025
GDP grew 0.4% in the second quarter, slightly above average forecasts, 0.3%, but on top of a revised expansion in the first quarter, from 1.4% to 1.3%, that is, broadly in line. Compared to the same period last year, growth reached 2.2%, accumulating 2.5% in the first half of the year and 3.2...
Synthesis of the Brazilian Economy
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 02 Sep 2025 · 1 response
The Brazil Synthesis is a monthly overview of the Brazilian economy, with commentary and charts. The report begins with a timely topical overview, and charts provide a snapshot of the economy. Uncertainty is the name of the game Tarcísio strikes the right tone, the PCC suffers a setback: ...
This side of the horizon
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 25 Aug 2025
The appreciation of the exchange rate in 2025 has had impacts on inflation, chiefly in the category of tradable goods. It is true that much of the disinflation in this group is explained by food prices, whose behavior depends on variables beyond the exchange rate, but there are also signs of a sl...
Not so fast
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 18 Aug 2025 · 2 responses
Despite successive adjustments, the output gap estimated by the Central Bank (BC) has shown little sensitivity to the unemployment rate in recent years. This behavior could be justified by a rapid decline in the NAIRU over the period. However, when estimating it implicitly from the BC’s reference...
The Phillips curve is alive and well
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 11 Aug 2025
With the renewed decline in the unemployment rate, labor earnings, which are already growing significantly above productivity, are expected to face new pressures. Our estimates, based on pre-pandemic data, indicate that a 1 percentage point change in the economy’s slack, whether through an in...
Credit where credit is due
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 06 Aug 2025
The Copom minutes revive the curious formula of the “continuation of the interruption of the rate hiking cycle,” reaffirming the end of monetary tightening without stating it outright. This is, after all, a continuation of the decision made in June, which helps explain the scarcity of significant...
Synthesis of the Brazilian Economy
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 04 Aug 2025
OVERVIEW UNCERTAINTY IS THE NAME OF THE GAME The 50% tariff rise on U.S. imports of Brazilian products caused a rupture in diplomatic relations between the two countries, triggering the most acute political and economic crisis since Brazil’s redemocratization. Following Trump’s election,...