home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- <text id=89TT0306>
- <title>
- Jan. 30, 1989: World Notes:Brazil
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1989
- Jan. 30, 1989 The Bush Era Begins
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- WORLD, Page 45
- World Notes
- BRAZIL
- A Fiscal Deep Freeze
- </hdr><body>
- <p> Sunnily dubbed the "summer plan," the economic controls
- announced by the government of President Jose Sarney last week
- received a decidedly chilly reception. Designed to slash the
- country's 1,580% inflation rate and to attack the $66 billion
- national debt, the plan will freeze prices, abolish automatic
- wage hikes and devalue the Brazilian cruzado by 16.4% in
- relation to the dollar. The government will close six out of 27
- ministries, and promises to fire 60,000 employees. Brazil is
- temporarily suspending any further debt-for-equity swaps with
- foreign banks and refuses to rule out a new moratorium on
- payments toward its $115 billion foreign debt.
- </p>
- <p> The controls must still be approved by the Brazilian
- Congress. Meanwhile, Brazil is seeking a "bridge loan" from the
- U.S. for $3.5 billion.
- </p>
- <p> Though a survey showed grudging support for the measures,
- Sarney obviously hopes the summer plan will yield fruit before
- November's presidential elections.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
-