2016 Was Awful for Brazil and 2017 Doesn’t Look Much Better
- Many who had pulled out of poverty are now falling back in
- ‘It doesn’t feel like Christmas at all,’ one shop owner says
Sale and rental signs are seen at an empty property in So Paulo, Brazil. December 21, 2016.
Photographer: Patrícia Monteiro/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Few Brazilians will mourn the passing of 2016. The president was impeached, a vast corruption scandal dominated the headlines day after day and a devastating recession - the worst on record - crushed the hopes of millions.
It is that last element that remains the most painful today. For while financial markets have rebounded as the new administration sought to calm jittery investors, the economy is showing precious few signs of improving. And most analysts are now dialing back 2017 growth predictions to almost zero.