After his meeting with President Michel Temer on Wednesday 16 November, the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, said that the structural changes the Brazilian government has been implementing will lead the country back to the path of economic growth.

"We can see that Brazil has reached this point of inflection, and at this time we can say for sure that the country will start growing again. This is the best investment appeal”, said Moreno.

Among the reforms mentioned by the IDB president is Proposed Constitutional Amendment 241, which sets a public spending cap for the next 20 years. PEC 241, as it is called, has already been passed by the Chamber of Deputies and should earn the Senate's approval in December. He also alluded to pension reform, likely to be submitted to Congress by the end of the year, which he expects will help solve a structural public budget problem in the country. The new pre-salt regulatory framework (which removes the obligation that Petrobras participates in all exploration blocks) and the Investment Partnership Programme (PPI) are also key measures to attract new investments to the country.

With regard to opportunities under the PPI, Moreno pointed out that the IDB is an important partner for Brazil in that it provides technical input to both ends of public-private partnerships. “We are bringing in the significant experience of other Latin American countries and monitoring partnerships in order to better structure them and find new financial instruments,” he said. IDB support can also come in the form of project funding in local currency.

Investor meeting

Another topic discussed at the meeting was the possible holding of an event in May 2017 aimed at attracting foreign investors to Brazil. The initiative is being developed by the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and the ministries of Planning and Foreign Affairs, with support from the IDB.