Brazil resists the worldwide recession

By any standards, Brazil has made great strides in recent decades. In mid 2012 the Country has now reached the point where it is second only to the United States in terms of economies in the Americas. Not only that but in global terms, Brazil has now overtaken the United Kingdom to become the world's sixth biggest economy.

To a large extent, Brazil is proving able to resist the worst effects of the current world recession. This is partly because of the country's large and diverse range of exploitable natural resources within its own borders. A good example is petroleum; domestic deposits are now able to supply the country’s needs, having equalled demand for the first time in the year 2007 and exceeded it every single year thereafter. As regards the bedrock of any advanced economy, power supplies for industry, the cities and the rural areas alike are vital. In this particular aspect a positive economic statistic is that Brazil gets ninety percent of its needs from its own massive hydroelectric potential. Another good economic instance is the important range of mineral deposits of iron, manganese, nickel and gold, all of which supply important raw materials (or indeed vital media of exchange or trade!).

In terms of manufacturing, growth in the sector has been impressive. Products in this leading BRICS nation include petrochemicals, cars and aircraft, computers and a wide range of computer durables, with an increasing proportion of the domestic market rather than the foreign. Brazil's service sector has also helped the Country survive the worst buffeting of the global recession. The 'industry' accounts for between fifteen and twenty percent of GDP( Gross Domestic Product), depending on definition.

The country has enjoyed much better economic stability since the launching of the 'Plan Real' national programme in 1994 by President Franco and Finance Minister Cardoso. Since then, all administrations have had at least the option of much better control of both the economy and the currency, not perfectly of course, but at least the tools have been present. Last year in 2011 the prestigious 'Forbes 2000' list of top world public companies included no less than 36 Brazilian organisations. By far the largest of these was the oil and gas giant Petrobras with a total value of over $240 Billion (the fourth largest company in the world). Also included were mining company Vale ($185 Billion), Itau Unibanco (Bankers at $115B) and beverage producers Ambey at $85 Billion.

All this is very positive but what does it mean for people wanting to invest in Brazil? Well, one way of looking at it is to say that there are obviously two kinds. These are domestic and 'from overseas', of course. In both cases there are encouraging signs, despite inevitable fluctuations in inflation, interest rates and the Dollar/Real and the Dollar/Euro exchange rates. Generally, Brazil is moving steadily towards eventual 'first world' status. A result of this is that Alternative Investments in certain areas and industries remains an encouraging prospect for both large and smaller financers. This is likely to continue for quite some time.