Resuming the Path to Inclusion, Growth and Sustainability - World Bank Report Presentation

Between 2003 and 2013, the Brazilian economy showed signs of combining increased income and macroeconomic stability at a higher level of social inclusion. However, the order of the commodity super-cycle weakened growth model linked to the consumption in the country. The return of public deficits and the growing political uncertainty undermined confidence in the country and submerged in the worst recession in decades, threatening the gains achieved. The seminar aims to discuss the structural challenges behind the economic difficulties faced by Brazil from the report "Resuming the Path to Inclusion, Growth and Sustainability", published by the World Bank.

Brazil is currently facing an unprecedented economic crisis, with risinginflation rates, sharp drops in revenues and GDP, and a depreciated exchange rate. These and other aspects of the current economic scenario were discussed at the seminar entitled "Resuming the Path to Inclusion, Growth and Sustainability” which took place on July 29, at 10 am. This subject is the same as a study published by the World Bank. Marcílio Marques Moreira (former Minister of Finance); Martin Raiser (Country Director for Brazil of the World Bank); and economists Rubens Penha Cysne director of FGV´s the Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - EPGE) Armando Castelar IBRE´s coordinator of Applied Economics); and Regis Bonelli (IBRE´s researcher of Applied Economics) attended the meeting at FGV´s Brazilian Institute of Economics (IBRE).

The document contains important macroeconomic data, providing specialists and public administrators an overview of Brazilian economy in recent years: an analysis of Brazilian political institutions and the impact of resource distribution; macro-policies and fiscal spaces, priorities in the governmental agenda; and the future of progressive social policies, among other topics “The discussion of the World Bank report on Brazilian economy is particularly appropriate at a time when the economic policy turns more decisively to the implementation of reforms capable of overcoming the imbalances, that characterize the current state of our economy. Those concurrent imbalances include, among others, a drop in government revenues, combined with continuing high spending,” said Regis Bonelli, a researcher in the field of Applied Economics from the Brazilian Institute of Economics and one of the event’s organizers.

According to EPGE director, professor Rubens Penha Cysne, it is essential to analyze the indicators pointing towards the reduction of inequality in recent years. “The event will not only address fiscal issues in Brazil, but also the reasons that led the country to such sluggish growth. Mainly, it is important to discuss poverty reduction statistics, assessing to what extent such efforts are sustainable in the long term,” he said.