Brazil Would Benefit From Weaker Currency, Coutinho Tells Folha

Luciano Coutinho, president of the state development bank BNDES, said Brazil has benefited from the recent weakening of its currency and a further drop would be better, according to newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.

Steep interest rates, one of the challenges that has long faced Brazilian industry, are coming down, Coutinho said, according an interview published today in the Sao Paulo-based newspaper. The nation is moving toward a level of interest rates compatible with its macroeconomic condition, he said.

Brazilian businessmen are too pessimistic at the moment because they are highly affected by short-term considerations, Coutinho said, according to the paper.

Brazil’s government has taken short-term measures to help struggling industrial sectors survive, Coutinho said, according to Folha. It is studying longer-term measures such as tax measures and boosting public investment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Harry Maurer in Rio de Janeiro at hmaurer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net