Temer pledges to recover country's investment grade soon

During a ceremony in the agribusiness sector held today (Aug 11), Brazilian President Michel Temer talked about the country's economic situation and said that Brazil is soon to recover its investment grade. The status serves as a certificate that countries will not likely to default on public debt.

“I see Brazil's country risk, which stood at 470 negative points when I took over, and now it's 195. It's a considerable decline, and we'll soon take back the investment degree we lost in the last,” he said during the inauguration ceremony of the country's first plant for ethanol exclusively made with corn, in Lucas do Rio Verde, Mato Grosso. The plant belongs to FS Bioenergia.

In 2008, Brazil had been granted investment grade status. The first agency to elevate the country to this level was Standard & Poor's, in April. Fitch followed suit in May that same year, followed by Moody's, in September 2009.

In September 2015, however, Standard & Poor's removes the country's status and gave it a negative outlook, making room for further downgrading in February 2016. In December 2015, Fitch cut Brazil's rate to a notch below good payer. Moody's removed Brazil's investment grade in 2016. The credit rating agency brought the country down two notches below investment at the occasion.

Temer noted the importance of the overhauls devised by his administration, such as the reforms for labor and for the country's high-school curriculum, and mentioned the positive rates for employment generation over the last few months—which, he says, “indicates the growing trend in the fight against unemployment in the country.” He went on to talk about the approval of the cap on public spending. “All these issues, like the cap on public spending, were crucial for our finances. We caught the country during one of the worst recessions of recent times. The first step was fighting recession. Recession being defeated, we move ahead towards development,” he said.

Social media

Also today on his social media sites, Temer released a video on new positive figures for the economy. The president says construction once again sees employment on the rise, and mentions the drop in inflation. “July was the fourth consecutive month in the generation of formal job openings. We've created 35 thousand new jobs. In the half-year, over hired workers totaled 100 thousand,” he said, referring to official data.

“Industry, which has always been a major employer, is taking off. It's the first time construction stopped firing and started hiring in almost three years” he added. Temer also mentioned the estimated record in the crop for grains calculated by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira