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Brazilian president rejects dire 2016 prediction for country's economy

Xinhua, August 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff Tuesday rejected predictions that her country's economy would experience "immense difficulty" next year, yet she said she could not guarantee it would be "marvelous."

"I hope for a better situation, but I have no guarantee that 2016 will be marvelous," she said during an interview with radio stations in Sao Paulo.

"It probably will not be, but neither will it be full of immense difficulty, as many predict. We will continue to face problems, as we cannot predict the repercussions of everything happening in international economics," she said.

Rousseff admitted that Brazil would see an economic contraction of around two percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) this year, with "much care being required" to ensure this did not happen again in 2016.

However, she expressed her confidence in the fiscal plan that her government has implemented this year, which involved a strong cutback on public spending and increased tax collection.

"These measures are beginning to be put in place," said Rousseff, who criticized the pessimistic outlook that the markets have on Brazil. However, she said that she "understood the dissatisfaction of society... as people always want everything to be resolved immediately."

Rousseff is currently facing a historically low approval rating of 8 percent, as her support has been eroded by Brazil's economic slowdown and the ongoing Petrobras corruption scandal.

However, new data released on Tuesday showed that Brazil's unemployment rate for the second quarter of 2015 stood at 7.5 percent, up from 6.2 percent at the end of the first quarter. Since January, the Brazilian unemployment rate has risen every month.

Unsurprisingly, this grim economic reality also led to Brazilian consumer confidence falling by 1.7 percent in August, as opposed to July. According to the Getulio Vargas Foundation, its confidence index put consumer confidence nationwide at 80.6, down from 82 in July and the lowest level ever recorded. Endi