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The debilitating political and economic crisis that engulfed Brazil in 2015 is bound to continue in the New Year regardless of the outcome of the opposition effort to impeach President Dilma Rousseff. A procedural victory by the president at the Supreme Court was described by her government’s chief of staff, Jaques Wagner, as a “pacifying” event leading to the end of the impeachment process and a positive environment in Congress to advance reforms on taxation, social security and labor laws. This will be the task of new Finance minister, Nelson Barbosa, the former Planning minister who was the chief antagonist of the austerity plan his predecessor, Joaquim Levy, tried to advance, with minimal success. Markets gave Barbosa a chilly welcome and the real fell sharply as the new financial chief took office promising to control the fiscal deficit, reduce double-digit inflation, advance structural reforms and create conditions for a fast economic recovery.

On Friday January 8th the Brazil Institute will convene a panel of experts to discuss Brazil’s challenging 2016 outlook. Setting the stage, Mauricio Moura, Director of Ideia Inteligência, will present findings of a poll on Brazilian voters views of the ongoing crisis.

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Related Material:

Paulo Sotero, “O Veneno da Intelerancia”

Nelson Barbosa, “Brazil’s Political Challenge: Building Consensus on an Economically Sustainable Strategy”

Monica de Bolle, “Casa Tomada e Arruinada”

Monica de Bolle, “Dilma’s Gamble for Resurrection”

An interview with Otaviano Canuto, “Fla-Flu político impede avanços na economia, diz diretor do FMI”

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