Analysis: Brazil cannot sustain Chinese-like growth
12/06/2010
Brazil may be growing at Chinese rates but it is no China.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva praised this week's gross domestic product data, calling it well-deserved "exuberant growth," but some say such rampant expansion could be a curse, not a blessing.
Sound economic policies have made Brazil a magnet for investment but now Latin America's largest economy is facing a collision with with old problems: a chronic lack of infrastructure and human capital.
Brazil lacks the infrastructure and factory capacity to cope with these growth levels without fueling inflation, analysts say.
It also cannot match the massive and highly qualified work force and the amount of investment in infrastructure and capital goods that has allowed China to sustain double-digit growth rates.
"We have clear bottlenecks and our daily lives are evidence of this," Roberto Padovani, chief Brazil strategist at WestLB in Sao Paulo, said. "It is difficult to find workers, you don't have enough streets and highways, the airports are a mess."
Investment, a gauge of corporate and public capital spending and inventory build-up, is currently at 18 per cent of GDP, less than half China's investment rate of around 40 per cent, said Marcelo Carvalho, chief Brazil economist at Morgan Stanley in Sao Paulo.
And China invests around 16 per cent of its GDP in infrastructure in contrast to only about 2 per cent in Brazil, he said.
"If you don't invest enough you are not expanding the supply side of the economy fast enough to cope with this booming demand. So when demand is growing faster than supply it spills over into pressures on inflation," Carvalho said.
Brazil's economy grew at its fastest pace in at least 14 years in the first quarter of 2010, up 9 per cent on an annual basis. That was only moderately below China's 11.9 per cent growth rate in the same period.
The growth data gave another confidence boost to a government facing a tight election race against opposition party PSDB in October. Lula spoke of a "golden age" for Brazil, and Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles said it proved the government's anti-crisis strategy was right on the money.
But for others, Brazil's buoyant growth raises a red flag: inflation.
BLESSING VS CURSE
Economists say Brazil can only grow between 4 per cent and 5 per cent before growth starts fueling inflation and hurting the current account, the widest measure of a country's foreign exchange transactions.
With the economy expected to expand between 6 per cent and 8 per cent this year, it is clearly growing above potential.
In a sign that Brazil's resources are being stretched thin, unemployment dropped in April to its lowest rate for that month since 2002, when the government began tracking the data.
And the combination of strains in supply and red-hot demand resulted in growth of imports outstripping that of exports, widening the current account deficit.
The use of installed factory capacity also reached pre-crisis levels in April as Brazilian manufacturers pushed equipment and personnel to produce more.
"Current output is about 1.7 per cent above potential, confirming that the output gap is now negative, and that means that inflationary pressures are mounting," Standard Chartered said in a note published on Thursday.
Headline inflation slowed in May, but underlying price pressures remain strong.
Core inflation, which strips out the prices of food and other volatile goods, jumped to 0.59 per cent from 0.45 per cent in the previous month, and 12-month inflation at 5.22 per cent remains well above 4.5 per cent, the center of the government target.
Inflation is also accelerating in the services sector, which makes up about two-thirds of Brazil's economy, according to Carvalho. Prices in the sector grew around 0.6 per cent in May from a 0.5 per cent rate in April and surged 6.78 per cent year-on-year in May, he said.
The government has taken steps to curb pricing pressures, announcing additional cuts to the 2010 budget, while the central bank has increased interest rates by 150 basis points since April to 10.25 per cent.
Brazil's finance minister, Guido Mantega, expects those hikes, along with the phase-out of government tax breaks and the euro zone debt crisis will help cool growth in coming quarters.
But if underlying price pressures show anything it's that monetary authorities still have work to do.
"Inflation numbers in services are a closer reflection of the domestic economy than overall inflation numbers are, and services are running above target," Carvalho added.
"It means there are inflation pressures that have to be dealt with. It means that the central bank's monetary tightening job is not over yet."
Brazil Bond Sales Post Worst Drought in 14 Months (Update2)
June 11, 2010, 5:36 PM EDT
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Brazilian companies refrained from selling international bonds for a sixth straight week, the longest stretch in 14 months, as Europe's debt crisis drove up borrowing costs and caused a surge in volatility.
The average yield difference on Brazilian corporate dollar bonds over U.S. Treasuries has jumped 81 basis points to 341 since Braskem SA, Latin America's biggest petrochemical producer, sold $400 million of notes on April 30 in the last overseas offering, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s CEMBI index. The average daily yield swing surged to five basis points in the past two months from two in the previous two months, CEMBI data show.
"When the market is as volatile as it is, it's just very difficult for companies to price new issues and for investors to commit the money," said Eric Ollom, 47, chief strategist for emerging markets at Jefferies Group Inc. in New York.
The credit-rating downgrades in Greece, Spain and Portugal are pushing up international yields at the same time Brazilian central bank interest-rate increases send local borrowing costs higher, squeezing corporate finances in Latin America's largest economy.
Banco Central do Brasil boosted the benchmark overnight rate 75 basis points at a second straight meeting on June 9, lifting it to 10.25 percent from a record low 8.75 percent to cool the fastest economic expansion in 15 years. Most local corporate bonds offer yields linked to the overnight rate or inflation, according to Milena Zaniboni, a Sao Paulo-based analyst with Standard & Poor's.
Record Start
"It will without a doubt raise financing costs," said Marcelo Mesquita, a partner at Rio de Janeiro-based Leblon Equities Gestao de Recursos Ltda. and former head of Brazil equities strategy for UBS AG. "The margins may worsen on that front but in Brazil it's not going to break any companies. Rates are still historically low."
Local bond sales totaled 1.4 billion reais ($775 million) in May, according to the country's capital markets association.
The last two Brazilian issuers to try to sell bonds abroad -- Odebrecht SA, a Salvador-based engineering and construction company, and Sao Paulo-based Banco Cruzeiro do Sul SA -- shelved their planned offerings on May 7.
The drought snaps a record start to the year in which Brazilian companies sold $15.1 billion of international debt from January through April, equal to a monthly average of $3.8 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Total sales in the U.S. corporate market, by comparison, fell to $37.4 billion in May from a $103 billion average in the first four months.
'Less Abundant'
"The European crisis is reducing the availability of credit to Brazil," Finance Minister Guido Mantega, 61, said in a conference call with reporters yesterday. "I don't want to say that there's a lack of credit, but resources are less abundant than in the beginning of the year."
The yield premium on Brazilian dollar government bonds over U.S. Treasuries has swelled 75 basis points since April 15 to 242, according to JPMorgan's EMBI+ index. The gap widened 8 points at 5 p.m. New York time.
The cost of protecting Brazilian debt against default for five years fell one basis point to 141, according to data compiled by CMA DataVision. Credit-default swaps pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a government or company fail to adhere to its debt agreements.
Pemex Meetings
The real fell 0.3 percent to 1.8107 per dollar. The decline reduces its rally this week to 3 percent, the most among major currencies. The yield on Brazil's overnight interest-rate futures contract due in January, the most active in Sao Paulo trading, rose four basis points to 11.14 percent today, signaling traders expect the central bank to raise the benchmark rate to about 12 percent by year-end.
Brazilian corporate dollar bond yields have climbed seven basis points this week to 6.63 percent, according to JPMorgan. Yields reached a three-month high of 6.79 percent on May 7.
Issuance may pick back up soon for companies in Brazil and the rest of Latin America, said Ollom. Petroleos Mexicanos, the state-run Mexican oil company, hired Deutsche Bank AG and HSBC Holdings Plc to arrange meetings with bond investors in New York this week, an indication issuers in the region are looking to tap markets again, he said.
Pemex, as the company is known, doesn't know when it will sell bonds, said a Mexico City-based official who declined to be identified in accordance with corporate policy.
The meetings are a "sign that issuers would like to come back," Luz Padilla, 42, who manages developing-nation debt at DoubleLine Capital LP, said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. "I'm not so sure about the receptivity because it's all going to depend on pricing."
--With assistance from Alexander Ragir in Rio de Janeiro, Gabrielle Coppola in New York and Iuri Dantas in Brasilia. Editors: Lester Pimentel, David Papadopoulos
Brazil May Cut Steel Duties to Curb Inflation (Update3)
By Andre Soliani
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil may reduce duties on steel imports in a bid to contain inflation after wholesale prices rose the most in two years, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said.
"If an industry exaggerates when increasing prices, it knows what will happen -- we will lower the import tariff," Mantega, 61, said in an interview at the Bloomberg office in Sao Paulo yesterday. "What concerns us the most is steel, because it has an impact on the economy as a whole."
Inflation has been running above the government's 4.5 percent target since January, as the fastest growth in 15 years raises concern that Latin America's biggest economy may be overheating. Brazil's broadest measure of inflation, the IGP-M index, rose 2.21 percent from last month, the highest reading since 2003, led up by prices of iron-ore and wholesale goods, the national statistics agency reported today.
Mantega, speaking ahead of a today's conference in Sao Paulo, downplayed concern that Brazil's economy was growing too fast. Prices are exceeding the government's target because of heavy rains that have raised the cost of food, he said.
Mantega didn't provide details about the plans to cut the maximum 14 percent duty on steel imports. The final decision lies with the foreign trade chamber. Over the past year, the federal government commission has reduced tariffs on 16 products, including sardines, palm oil and beer cans, as local producers struggle to meet surging demand.
Cooling Down
Steel mills are resisting efforts by iron-ore suppliers including Rio de Janeiro-based Vale SA to raise third-quarter contract prices after steel prices fell 10 percent from an 18- month high on April 15.
Vale, the world's biggest supplier of iron ore, won a 90 percent price increase for April quarter contracts after it dropped a 40-year custom of setting annual prices.
"Abrupt tax moves, either up or down, could have serious consequences mainly for competitiveness and for Brazil's position in the world, and therefore should be analyzed with great caution," Vale Chief Executive Agnelli told reporters in Brasilia when asked about the steel duties proposal after meeting Lula today.
Higher interest rates, the withdrawal of fiscal stimulus tax cuts and the financial crisis in the euro region will all help to cool the economy, said Mantega.
Mantega said gross domestic product will expand 6 percent to 6.5 percent this year. That's below the median 6.6 percent estimate in a June 4 central bank survey of economists as well as the "Chinese-like rate" of 7.5 percent Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Brazil's biggest bank by market value, forecast in a May report.
Interest Rates
The central bank, led by President Henrique Meirelles, raised the benchmark interest rate for a second straight meeting on June 9. Policy makers said in a one-sentence statement they lifted the overnight rate to 10.25 percent from 9.5 percent to bring inflation back to target. Economists expect the Selic to reach 12 percent by January, according to the bank survey.
Meirelles said June 4 policy makers were in a "tightening mood," a month after vowing to take "vigorous action" to prevent the economy from overheating.
The government is cutting spending by 10 billion reais ($5.54 billion) to help cool the economy before the interest rates take hold.
GDP surged 9 percent in the first quarter from the year- earlier period, the most since 1995, the government said June 8. Faster economic growth has prompted analysts to forecast consumer prices will stay above the government's target this year and next, according to the central bank survey.
Inflation-free Growth
The $1.6 trillion economy has the conditions to keep growing at an annual pace between 5 percent and 6 percent, said Guilherme Lacerda, president of pension fund Funcef, at today's conference in Sao Paulo.
"The inflation we saw in the first quarter of this year didn't stem from the pace of growth," Mantega said. "I'm confident we can have a good economic performance and, at the same time, keep inflation under control."
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva appointed Mantega to become his finance minister in 2006, after serving as budget minister and head of the National Development Bank. The former economics professor at Sao Paulo's Getulio Vargas Foundation has been an adviser to Lula since 1993.
Supply, Demand
Across Brazil, companies are struggling to keep up with demand that's been rising as unemployment hovers near a record low 6.8 percent, salaries rise and the 30 million Brazilians who have left poverty since Lula took office in 2003 increase spending.
Cia de Bebidas das Americas, Latin America's largest brewer, had to import beer cans for the first time in its 125- year history after local supplies were exhausted.
Acucar Guarani SA, the country's third-biggest sugar producer by market value, left 10 percent of its crop sitting in the fields an extra 40 days because of a shortage of tires for its harvesters, even after the commodity hit a 29-year high in February.
Retail sales rose 15.7 percent in March from a year earlier, the highest on record. Industrial production jumped 17 percent in April from a year ago, as manufacturers increase the use of installed capacity to 83 percent, the highest level since September 2008.
Annual inflation, as measured by the benchmark IPCA index, slowed to 5.22 percent in May from 5.26 percent in April -- the first deceleration in seven months, the national statistics agency said this week.
Spending, Rates, 'Reasonable' Currency
The government will need to cut spending and the central bank will have to raise interest rates more than the market expects to slow inflation, said former central bank chief Langoni said at today's conference.
The real is leading major currencies this week as borrowing costs rise and state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA prepares to raise $25 billion in a public stock offering.
Brazil's currency gained 3.4 percent this week, the biggest among the 16 most-traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
Mantega said the real has traded at a "reasonable" level since the government levied a 2 percent tax on capital inflows in October, and he sees no need for additional measures.
The real, whose 33 percent appreciation last year was the biggest among major currencies, will strengthen to 1.77 per dollar by the end of the third quarter from 1.8045 yesterday, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 21 economists.
The currency has averaged 1.7789 per U.S. dollar since Oct. 19, ranging from 1.6989 to 1.8045.
"Since last October, when we took the measure, the exchange rate reduced its volatility," Mantega said. "I don't think additional measures are needed."
Brazil's Interest-Rate Futures Yields Rise on Inflation Outlook
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Yields on Brazil's interest-rate futures contracts climbed for a fifth day, the longest streak since February, after estimates for inflation surpassed forecasts, boosting speculation the central bank will increase borrowing costs.
The yield on the contract due in January, the most traded in Sao Paulo, rose four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point. The yield has risen 22 basis points this week, the biggest increase since the period ended April 30.
The IBGE statistics agency reported today that the first preview of Brazil's broadest measure of inflation, the IGP-M index, rose 2.21 percent from last month, the highest reading since 2003.
"The market is seeing this as a warning sign," said Deivis Ribeiro, a currency trader at Novacao SA Corretora de Cambio in Sao Paulo. "The expectation that the central bank would keep the pace of rate increases at 75 basis points is coming to an end, and the market is now working with increases of 100, or maybe even more."
The central bank this week raised the benchmark Selic rate 0.75 percentage point, the second consecutive increase of that amount, to 10.25 percent.
Brazil's government will need to cut spending and the central bank will have to raise interest rates more than the market expects to slow inflation, said Carlos Langoni, a former central bank president.
Brazil's real fell 0.3 percent to 1.8107 per dollar, from 1.8045 yesterday. The currency has strengthened 3 percent this week.
Lula, the most popular politician on earth
12/06/2010
There may be something even a billion-dollar budget can't control at the upcoming G20 Summit — Lula's Lip.
Shortly before last year's summit in London, left-wing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made global headlines at a joint press conference with host Gordon Brown by blaming the banking crisis on "white people with blue eyes who . . . thought they knew it all."
Brown cringed and, while one certainly can't blame Lula for Brown's defeat as prime minister a year later, perhaps Stephen Harper should take note.
Lula (the nickname he legally adopted) doesn't go by the rules, and gets away with it. "That's my man, right there," U.S. President Barack Obama said upon greeting him at the London summit. "The most popular politician on Earth."
Mr. Popularity hates protocol and drives security teams crazy by lurching into crowds. The former union leader has always been a loose cannon in polished political circles but, at 64 and in the final months of his presidency, he may be even more relaxed about speaking his mind.
He's the embodiment of diligence. Lula dropped out of school in the fifth grade and went to work as a shoeshine boy, then lost part of a finger as a teenaged lathe operator. He went on to co-found the Workers' Party and to run three times for the Brazilian presidency before winning in 2002 (after trimming his wild curls and beard) and, again, in 2006.
Despite his frankness, he's widely admired and has scooped up many accolades.
Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum in Switzerland gave him its Global Statesmanship Award — even though, at the 2003 meeting of the elite club of international power-brokers, Lula had said: "Here in Davos . . . it is generally assumed there is only one god — the market."
And recently, Time named him one of the world's most influential leaders.
The magazine hired activist filmmaker Michael Moore to write about Lula. "When Brazilians first elected (him) President in 2002, the country's robber barons nervously checked the fuel gauges on their private jets," Moore wrote. "They had turned Brazil into one of the most inequitable places on earth, and now it looked like payback time. . . What Lula wants for Brazil is what we used to call the American Dream."
We may soon be talking about the Brazilian Dream thanks to Lula — and his lip.
Brasil reducirá la pobreza a la mitad en cuatro años
Un estudio predice que para 2014 solo un 8% de la población del país formará parte de la clase más baja
JUAN ARIAS | Río de Janeiro | 14/06/2010
Brasil tendrá la mitad de pobres dentro de cuatro años: de los actuales 30 millones de ciudadanos que no pueden satisfacer sus necesidades básicas, en 2014 sólo quedarán 15 millones, según un estudio dirigido por el economista Marcelo Neri, jefe del Centro de Estudios Sociales de la prestigiosa Fundación Getulio Vargas (FGV) de Río de Janeiro.
El número de personas que vive por debajo de la línea de la pobreza está disminuyendo a un ritmo acelerado en Brasil: cae un 10% al año. De acuerdo con estos datos, en 2014 sólo un 8% de los brasileños podrá considerarse pobre, según el estudio de la FGV, cuyas conclusiones fueron publicadas ayer por el diario Folha de São Paulo.
Hace solo ocho años, en este país de 190 millones de habitantes había 50 millones de pobres, uno por cada cuatro habitantes. En ese lapso de tiempo, más de 20 millones de personas han superado la barrera de la pobreza para pasar a formar parte de la clase media baja y, por lo tanto, tener la posibilidad de acceder a los bienes básicos de consumo.
Todo ello ha sido posible, según los economistas, por la conjunción de varios factores. En primer lugar, la creación de 12 millones de empleos fijos en los últimos ocho años, así como el aumento del 53% del sueldo base de los trabajadores, que en algunos sectores, como en la construcción, llegan a cobrar un salario de hasta tres sueldos base.
Además, el Gobierno de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ha desarrollado desde 2003, cuando llegó a la presidencia, una política de ayudas sociales a las familias pobres que les ha permitido consumir más. El aumento del consumo interno, impulsado por los millones de personas que salieron de la pobreza en los últimos años, fue uno de los factores que ayudaron a mitigar los efectos de la crisis financiera mundial, que afectó a Brasil menos que a otros países.
La semana pasada se conoció que el producto interior bruto (PIB) del país creció un 9% en el primer trimestre de este año en comparación con el mismo periodo del año pasado, lo que supuso el mayor crecimiento en estos meses de los últimos 16 años, informa Efe. Sin embargo, el Gobierno espera una desaceleración en los próximos meses por la incapacidad de seguir creciendo a un "ritmo chino", según afirmó el ministro de Hacienda, Guido Mantega, que espera que el país termine el año con un crecimiento de entre el 6% y el 6,5%.
Los expertos coinciden en que tanto el PIB como la creación de empleo están llamados a crecer. Uno de los puntos fuertes de la economía brasileña es que, al contrario de lo que sucede en otros países, no solo no hay peligro de que se forme una burbuja inmobiliaria, sino que existe un déficit de más de ocho millones de viviendas. Existen proyectos para construir millones de viviendas en un futuro inmediato, impulsados tanto por el Gobierno como por la iniciativa privada, por lo que se prevé un aumento de la masa laboral muy importante en dicho sector. La celebración en Brasil de los Mundiales en 2014 y de los Juegos Olímpicos en 2016 es otra importante fuente de creación de empleo.
La pobreza disminuyó un 43% entre 2003 y 2009
14/06/10 | Por SAN PABLO. CORRESPONSAL
Brasil ya recibió el nombre de "Belindia", mezcla de Bélgica en el sur y sudeste del país, y la India en el norte y el nordeste. Quien replicó esa frase hasta tornarla célebre fue el ex presidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
Hoy esa definición perdió vigencia. Un estudio de la Fundación Getulio Vargas (FGV), la más prestigiosa institución universitaria en el área económica, sostuvo que entre 2003 y 2009 la pobreza cayó un 43 por ciento : pasó de 50 millones de personas a 29,9 millones de personas. En ese período se crearon 13 millones de empleos, una cifra que incluye la sumatoria entre los nuevos puestos y los que se perdieron.
A la vez, el despegue económico brasileño tuvo una cualidad distinta a otros procesos de evolución del pasado. Esta vez hubo un aumento del salario real de 53,6 por ciento (esto es, descontada la inflación del período). Según declaró al diario Folha de Sao Paulo el economista Marcelo Neri de la FGV, al ritmo actual de reducción de pobreza –de un 10 por ciento al año–, en 2014 Brasil tendrá sólo un 8 por ciento de pobres. "Estamos entrando en un proceso de disminución de la desigualdad mucho más fuerte que entre 2003 y 2008", sostuvo el experto.
Si Brasil mantiene un crecimiento del orden del 5 por ciento anual y el actual porcentaje de ascenso de las clases más pobres a las consumidoras, en 2014 la pobreza afectará a sólo 14,5 millones de brasileños . En 1993, un total de 51,6 millones de brasileños, en un universo de 147 millones de habitantes, estaban en la pobreza absoluta: representaba el 35 por ciento de la población. En 2014, Brasil podrá alcanzar la meta de bajar la pobreza en un 70 por ciento. Habrá 16,1 millones de pobres entre 222 millones de habitantes, según las proyecciones del Instituto Brasileño de Geografía y Estadística; esto es, menos del 8 por ciento.
El ascenso de 32 millones de brasileños a las clases ABC entre 2003 e 2008 se relaciona, según los especialistas, con dos factores clave: el aumento del empleo formal y de la renta del trabajo, así como también los ajustes al salario mínimo y los programas sociales, que tienen como estandarte a la llamada "beca–familia".
Los analistas indican que el salario mínimo de 510 reales (280 dólares) permite comprar 2,2 canastas básicas. Cuando Lula da Silva comenzó su gobierno, el mínimo permitía adquirir 1,4 canastas. Esa recuperación fue, según se afirma, la mayor contribución social del gobierno de Lula ya que tuvo un impacto directo en el aumento de los ingresos de las familias.
Desde ese punto de vista, se puede hablar de un cambio profundo en el perfil social de Brasil. La suma de las clases E y D (la de pobreza extrema más la de ingresos inferiores) en 2008 fue de un 40 por ciento; pero será de apenas un 28 por ciento en 2014. Eso indica una evolución hacia un país donde predominen las clases medias . Hoy esas clases representan el 60 por ciento del total. Al ritmo actual de crecimiento económico y distribución de ingresos, será de 72 por ciento en cuatro años.
TAMBIÉN LLEGARON MÁS VISITANTES CHILENOS, URUGUAYOS, PARAGUAYOS Y BOLIVIANOS
De la mano de los brasileños, creció 20% el arribo de turistas en mayo
Desde octubre del año pasado, comenzó a repuntar el sector. La mejora ya es sostenida y suma un 13% entre enero y mayo, según datos de la Secretaría de Turismo
EL CRONISTA Buenos Aires ()
Lunes 14 de junio de 2010
El sector turístico muestra signos evidentes de una recuperación sostenida, tras el doble golpe asestado por la crisis financiera, primero, y el fantasma de la Gripe A después.
Ya en octubre comenzó a observarse un cambio de tendencia que se está confirmando este año. Y mayo, mes del festejo del Bicentenario, mostró uno de los mejores desempeños, junto al mes de febrero. De acuerdo a datos suministrados por la Secretaría del Turismo de la Nación, el arribo de visitantes del exterior se incrementó un 18% en el quinto mes del año, con respecto a igual lapso de 2009, al sumar 190.000 los turistas que ingresaron al país por el Aeropuerto Internacional de Ezeiza y el Aeroparque Jorge Newbery de la ciudad de Buenos Aires.
"La celebración, que convocó a millones de argentinos, también generó un atractivo para los extranjeros, que asistieron a un acontecimiento singular tanto por su propuesta artística como por el fenómeno popular que se vivió en las calles", comentó el secretario de Turismo de la Nación, Enrique Meyer.
El dato va en sintonía con los números de la ciudad de Buenos Aires. El gobierno porteño esperaba más de 100.000 visitantes, cifra que finalmente ascendió a 155.00 durante los cuatro días de festejo del Bicentenario, entre turistas nacionales y extranjeros, con una ocupación de 90% en hoteles de cuatro estrellas de la ciudad. Según datos del Ente de Turismo porteño, estos visitantes habrían dejado unos $111,35 millones en la ciudad.
Con la mejora de los ingresos desde el exterior a Ezeiza y Aeroparque de mayo, el incremento de visitantes extranjeros promedia casi un 13% en los cinco primeros meses del año, con más de 1 millón de turistas foráneos, de acuerdo a la información de la Secretaría de Turismo de la Nación.
En especial, fueron los habitantes de países vecinos los que más incrementaron su visita al país. Los brasileños siguen siendo los grandes impulsores de la mejora, ya que no sólo son los que mayor caudal de turistas aportan, sino que, además, figuran entre los que más crecen con respecto al año pasado. En mayo, sumaron 59.432 los brasileños que llegaron por Ezeiza y Aeroparque, un 32% más que en igual mes de 2009. Pero también se notó un gran incremento desde Chile: totalizaron 22.394 los visitantes del país transandino, es decir, un 49,4% más que en mayo del año pasado.
En tanto, los arribos desde Uruguay sumaron 10.197, un 45,5% más, mientras que las mejoras desde Paraguay y Bolivia, aunque desde bases más pequeñas, no se quedaron atrás: treparon 44% y 43,7%, respectivamente, con respecto a mayo del año pasado.
Brasil: Lula presentó oficialmente a su candidata a la presidencia
La ex ministra de Minas y Energía, Dilma Rousseff, se postulará para suceder al presidente Lula en los comicios de octubre.
AGENCIAS San Pablo ()
Lunes 13 de junio de 2010
Cuando faltan menos de cuatro meses para las elecciones presidenciales en Brasil, el presidenta Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, presentó hoy oficialmente a su candidata: Dilma Rousseff.
Lula apuntó ante la convención nacional del Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) que está convencido de la victoria de Rousseff en las elecciones presidenciales del 3 de octubre, pero advirtió de que "no será fácil" alcanzar el triunfo.
"No tengo ninguna duda de que podré irme tranquilo" cuando entregue el poder, el 1 de enero del 2011, porque "sé que Dilma gobernará este país con la mayor sabiduría", señaló Lula.
Sin embargo, cauteloso, Lula señaló "no hay pensar que ya se ganó, porque ninguna elección es fácil".
Palabras de candidata
Luego del anuncio formal, la ex ministra de Minas y Energía prometió continuar con la obra del gobierno de Lula pero "con el alma y el corazón de la mujer brasileña".
Rousseff, de 62 años, es economista y tiene un pasado guerrillero. "Llegó la hora de que una mujer gobierne el país, porque nadie mejor para profundizar la mirada social" apuntó la candidata.
Confirman medidas antidumping para sanitarios de Brasil
El ministerio de Industria anunció además un acuerdo de precios con Uruguay para la importación de esos artefactos.
AGENCIAS Buenos Aires ()
Lunes 11 de junio de 2010
La Argentina confirmó hoy la aplicación de medidas antidumping por cinco años para el ingreso de artefactos sanitarios de cerámica provenientes de Brasil.
Así lo informó hoy el Ministerio de Industria que, a través de un comunicado de prensa, señaló que, paralelamente, se aprobó "un acuerdo de precios para el ingreso de los mismos productos desde Uruguay".
El comunicado expresa que, de esta manera, "se cerraron las revisiones de las dos investigaciones por dumping que ya tenían medida provisorias desde 2005".
Los sanitarios provenientes de Brasil deberán seguir ingresando a la Argentina con un valor establecido por el Ministerio de Industria, mientras que la empresa que los exporta de Uruguay realizó una acuerdo de precios para vender esos productos en nuestro país.
El comunicado agrega que "el inicio de la investigación por dumping fue pedida por la empresa productora de sanitarios Ferrum S.A, que emplea en nuestro país a 1.850 trabajadores".
"La resolución 206 que se publicó hoy en el Boletín Oficial, y que lleva la firma de la ministra Débora Giorgi, establece mantener vigente la medida antidumping en forma definitiva por el plazo de cinco años para ese tipo de productos provenientes de Brasil", puntualiza la información oficial.
Asimismo, especifica que "para los productos provenientes de Uruguay se aceptó un compromiso de precios, presentado por la firma Metzen y Sena S.A. por el término de tres años".
En el comunicado se puntualiza, además, que "la Subsecretaría de Política y Gestión Comercial y la Comisión Nacional de Comercio Exterior serán los encargados de evaluar el cumplimiento del acuerdo de precios".
"Los productos incluidos (en la medida) son: sanitarios de cerámica tales como inodoros, depósitos o cisternas, lavatorios, columnas (pedestales) y bidés provenientes de la República Federativa del Brasil y de la República Oriental del Uruguay", expresa la información oficial.
