It is clear from this year’s IMF/World Bank conference in Washington that Brazil is generating excitement.
Perhaps I should amend that: the Brazilians that I spoke to during that week (and there were more side events and conferences hosted by Brazilian banks this year than any other that I can remember) were very excited.
They told me that that excitement was caused by the level of positivity about the country that they were feeling from the international finance community.
It seemed to me that there was a slight disconnect between the excitement of the Brazilians and the non-Brazilians I spoke to about the outlook for the country: I would characterize those latter conversations as ‘positive but with a strong streak of caution’.
What I think we could all agree on is that the sentiment about Brazil was more positive than at any time in the last decade – and certainly since I arrived in São Paulo at the end of 2010.
Then, Brazil closed out the year with annual growth of 7.5%. I remember lots of first meetings with bankers who would tell me that the long-term growth for the country in the coming decade was 5%.
