AN AWFUL LOT OF QUEUING IN BRAZIL
At a bustling neighbourhood outlet of Pao de Acucar, Brazil's largest supermarket group, a mechanic tried eagerly to buy eight bottles of beer. "Sorry,' said the checkout cashier, "only six bottles to a customer.' Brewers can't keep up with the sudden surge of demand.
Neither can many other manufacturers and suppliers. Brazilians wanting to buy new cars, for example, can expect to wait from 60 to 90 days for delivery. Impatient customers are paying up to 30% above list price for previously unwanted vehicles with optional extras. Dealers say they can't keep a car on their showroom floors. Across a broad range of products, demand outstrips supply. Shop window after shop window carries the sign: precisa-se balconista--clerk needed.
In industrial Sao Paulo, the engine room of the Brazilian economy, as-yet-incomplete figures show that bankruptcies fell by 24% last year and the number of concordatas (similar to Chapter 11 in the US) plunged 54%.
Such successes have made a quick impact on Brazilian banks. By most measures, 1985 results, which started to come through in late January and early February, showed a favorable turn-round in many areas-- deposits, operating earnings, pre-tax and net profits, doubtful credits.