Source: DCI - São Paulo / SP - 08/10/2010

SÃO PAULO - Brazil's fiscal problems are pointed out by businessmen as the biggest bottleneck for the country's competitiveness vis-à-vis other countries. In a survey carried out by Ibope Inteligência at the request of the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), for 59% of the total of 500 associates interviewed, the tax burden and efficiency of spending or use of resources by the government are factors of greatest concern. The perception is far superior to another major bottleneck for Brazilian economic growth, according to experts: infrastructure. Only 16% of those consulted indicated logistics, energy, computer technology (IT) and telecommunications as problems for the country.

One of the explanations for this situation pointed out in the research is that there are already plans for infrastructure in Brazil, while for fiscal issues, there is no defined horizon, such as, for example, the Tax Reform. This was one of the conclusions exposed by representatives of important productive associations, who participated in a debate held yesterday by Amcham.

However, these issues depend on each sector. The economist of the Brazilian Food Industry Association (Abia), Amilcar Lacerda de Almeida, present at the event, comments that in the case of this sector, the biggest bottleneck is infrastructure. On the other hand, he expects his sector to advance from 5% to 5,5% this year and between 4% to 6% in 2011.

Parallel to this, the Amcham and Ibope research showed that the influence of the next government in social spheres, identified as important for economic expansion, does not affect their business. For 49%, the prospects in the area of ​​education for the next term do not affect entrepreneurs. Similarly, 68% of respondents in the health area think. In contrast, 48% responded that the fiscal and tax sphere is the one that most negatively affects business. Regarding the positive impact on the company, 40% indicate that it will be the future economy.

The representatives of associations who discussed the 2011 perspectives at Amcham affirm that the lack of professional training is one of the most faced problems in hiring staff. “There are 70 thousand openings in the IT sector that we were unable to fill due to the lack of specialized people”, reveals Nelson Wortsman, director of Digital Convergence of the Brazilian Association of Information and Communication Technology Companies (Brasscom).

Optimism

According to Mara Lacerda, director of products and services at Amcham, the objective of the research was to raise market and business trends for 2011. “The conclusion reached is that entrepreneurs are very optimistic about this year's economic growth and believe that this advance will be maintained in 2011 ”, he said, explaining the results. Of the total, 81% expect more intense growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 2010. For 2011, 67% share this forecast.

Regarding inflation, businessmen believe in stability both in 2010 (69% of the total) and in 2011 (57%). Likewise, respondents project exchange rate stability for the two years (57%, for 2010, and 61%, for 2011), as well as for interest rates (54% and 46%, respectively).

Also according to the survey, 87% project an increase in sales for 2011, against 79% who expect to increase sales this year. Another important data from the survey indicates that the number of companies that will increase investments increased from 55% to 63% in 2011.

When asked about competitiveness and the investment and growth opportunities offered to the private sector and the government, executives believe more in companies. According to the survey, about companies, 40% believe that they take advantage of opportunities intensely, and 52% think that in a way they do. Regarding the government, 42% of the respondents think that they take the opportunities very little, and 48% believe that they use a certain way.

perspectives

The vice-president of the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), Julio de Siqueira Carvalho de Araújo - participant in yesterday's debate at Amcham - estimates, based on a recent survey by the Federation, that GDP will grow between 4,5% and 5,5%, 2011% in 4,5 and for inflation to close between 5% and 11,25% next year. Regarding the basic interest rate (Selic) he expects to close at 11,75%, below the forecast by Luiz Moan Yabiku Júnior, vice president of the National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea). That is, he expects a rate of XNUMX%.

One of the most optimistic about his sector is the president of the Civil Construction Industries Union (SindusCon), Sérgio Tiaki Watanabe. "At the beginning of the year, we expected growth of 9% for 2010. Now we are reviewing this percentage, which should reach an increase of 10% or 11%", he estimates. "But we still have many challenges ahead," he adds.

Brazil's fiscal problems are pointed out by businessmen as the biggest obstacle to the country's competitiveness vis-à-vis other countries. In a survey carried out by Ibope Inteligência at the request of the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), for 59% of the total of 500 associates interviewed, the tax burden and the efficiency of spending, or the use of resources, by the government, are the factors of greatest importance. concern. The perception is far superior to that of another major obstacle to Brazilian economic growth, according to experts: infrastructure. Only 16% of respondents indicated logistics, energy, information technology (IT) and telecommunications as problems.