Economy is bad or bad for 70% of Brazilians, says CNI

Seven out of ten Brazilians are pessimistic about the economic situation in Brazil and assess that the economy is bad or very bad, according to a survey by the CNI (National Confederation of Industry) carried out by the FSB Institute.

In the view of the interviewees, 47% classify the country’s economic situation as terrible, 23% think it is bad, 21% consider it regular, 7% say it is good and only 1% see it as excellent.

The current scenario — of high inflation and unemployment, the return of hunger, low growth forecast for next year, tightening of interest rates and loss of breath in the recovery after the worst moments of the pandemic — seems to be reflected in the Brazilian’s dismay.

In 12 months, until October, the country’s official inflation, measured by the IPCA (Broad National Consumer Price Index), increased 10.67%, and, on Wednesday (8), the Copom (Monetary Policy Committee) of the Central Bank raised the basic interest rate (Selic) to 9.25% per year.

In the case of the perception of inflation, 73% of those interviewed by the CNI consider that prices have increased, 15% say they have remained the same and only 8% see a decrease (while 3% were unable to answer).

In this context, the overwhelming majority (75%) of Brazilians say they are affected or very much affected by the price increase and 10% believe they have been little or nothing harmed by inflation.

Furthermore, to 54% inflation is still expected to rise, and 74% say they had to cut spending to get through the tight economy.

Fear of losing a job increases again

From the point of view of the labor market, another worrying fact: the fear of losing a job, which had been falling, grew again, from 52% in July to 61% in November. For 16% the fear is very great, for 24% it is great, and for 21% it is medium. The percentage of those who have no fear has shrunk from 32% to 21% of the employed population.

According to the most recent data, unemployment measured by the Pnad (National Household Sample Survey) Continuous was 12.6% in the third quarter.

When comparing the economic situation with that of past crises, 49% of Brazilians believe that the current crisis is more serious and 31% say it is as serious as previous negative scenarios. Among the most optimistic, 14% assess it as less serious and 2% think that the current situation is not serious. Those who did not know how to give an opinion are 3%.

Looking at the last six months, 56% say they believe the economy has worsened and 22% believe it has improved. Looking to the future, in the next six months, sentiment is already divided: 34% imagine that the situation will improve, while 32% foresee a worsening.

According to the president of CNI, Robson Andrade, the solution to reversing the situation in which Brazil finds itself necessarily involves investing in innovation and approving structural reforms that improve the business environment in the country.

The institute interviewed 2,016 people, aged 16 and over, in all states of the country, between November 18th and 23rd. The margin of error is two percentage points, plus or minus.