OECD ECONOMIC SURVEY OF BRAZIL 2018 Towards a more prosperous and inclusive Brazil Brasília, 28 February 2018 http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-brazil.htm @OECDeconomy @OECD
The economy is recovering Source: OECD Economic Outlook database. 2
Unemployment is falling Source: OECD Economic Outlook database. 3
Inflation has come down Source: CEIC; Central Bank. 4
Productivity is low 250 Labour productivity in thousands of 2010 USD per employee 200 150 100 50 0 ECU IDN COL THA BRAZIL MEX HRV TUR EST ZAF HUN CHL POL MYS HKG VEN PRT CZE SVK SVN ARG GRC NZL ITA GBR KOR FRA AUS ISL DEU JPN AUT FIN NLD BEL USA DNK NOR SWE CHE SGP Source: World Bank; ILO; IBGE. 5
Well-being can be improved BRAZIL OECD Average of Chile and Mexico Life satisfaction Income and wealth 10 8 6 Jobs and earnings Safety 4 Housing 2 0 Environment Work and life balance Civic engagement Health Community Education Source: OECD calculations based on Better Life Index Edition 2017 6
More reforms would boost growth 280 260 Baseline Real GDP, Index 2000=100 With more ambitious structural reforms 240 220 200 180 160 140 120 100 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Source: OECD projections, OECD Economic Outlook database. 7
Improving fiscal sustainability 8
Fiscal outcomes have deteriorated Source: Central Bank; Treasury. 9
Reforms would improve debt sustainability Estimated public debt trajectory Source: OECD calculations 10
Pension reform is urgent Source: OECD Pension at a Glance 2017 11
The retirement age is low Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance 2017. 12
Poverty is high among children and youths Poverty rates 35 30 BRAZIL OECD 25 20 15 10 5 0 0-17 years old 18-25 years old 26-40 years old 41-50 years old 51-65 years old 66-75 years old above 75 Source: OECD Income Distribution database. 13
There is room to improve public spending Expected possible savings from improving the efficiency of public expenditures Measure Social benefit reform (including pensions) Raising spending efficiency in the health sector Removing tax deductibility for private health plans Eliminating inefficiencies in education Potential annual savings Up to 2.7% of GDP 0.3% of GDP 0.3% of GDP 1.5% of GDP Aligning public sector pay levels with private sector 0.9% of GDP Reforming targeted SME tax regime in the context of a broader tax reform up to 1.2% of GDP Scaling back tax expenditures and subsidies targeted at the industrial sector up to 0.8% of GDP Improving public procurement 0.2% TOTAL Up to 7.9% of GDP Source: World Bank staff estimates from World Bank (2017), OECD estimates. 14
Key recommendations Improving macroeconomic policies Implement the planned fiscal adjustment through permanent spending cuts. Reform the pension system. Delink social benefit floors from the minimum wage. Shift more resources towards transfers that reach the poor (Bolsa Família). Establish a fixed term for the Central Bank governor and monetary policy committee. Scale back sector- and location-specific industrial support policies, including tax benefits. Evaluate existing industrial support programmes. Improve whistle-blower and leniency procedures. Limit political appointments, especially in state-owned enterprises. 15
Raising investment 16
Investment is low Source: OECD Economic Outlook database 17
More investment is key to boost growth Source: OECD Economic Outlook database. 18
Most private savings go into government bonds Source: Canuto and Cavallari, 2017 based on Anbima. 19
Infrastructure quality is low Source: World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Indicator database 20
Infrastructure investment is low Source: Infralatam, IDB and ECLAC 21
Infrastructure finance is dominated by public banks Source: Central Bank 22
Tax compliance costs are high Source: World Bank. 23
There is room to reduce red tape and regulatory burden Regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship 4 3.5 Most restrictive 3 2.5 2 1.5 Less restrictive 1 0.5 0 SVK NZL NLD ITA DNK AUT CAN PRT GBR RUS FIN USA CHE EST POL DEU JPN OECD FRA AUS NOR HUN SWE LUX BEL SVN CZE KOR COL GRC IRL CHL LVA PER ISL ESP ZAF MEX LAT ISR IDN TUR BRAZIL ARG CHN IND Source: OECD Product Market Regulation Indicators. 24
More and better professional training could relieve skill shortages Source: UNESCO Education database. 25
Key recommendations Raising investment Reduce barriers to entry due to administrative procedures. Consolidate consumption taxes into one value added tax with a broad base, full refunds for input VAT paid and zero-rating for exports. Focus BNDES lending activities on niche areas where the private sector finds it difficult to operate. Use BNDES to arrange syndicated loans for infrastructure and lead the creation of structured financial instruments. Provide more training to officials involved in infrastructure structuring. Make wider use of BNDES technical capacity to assist public entities in project structuring, especially local governments. 26
Fostering Brazil s integration into the world economy 27
Integration into international trade is low Source: OECD Economic Outlook database. 28
Brazil sits on the periphery of global value chains Map of global value chains Note: A larger circle reflects an economy whose sectors are connected within global production networks. Source: Criscuolo and Timmins (2017). 29
Trade barriers are high Source: World Integrated Trade Solution database (WITS). 30
Imported capital goods are too expensive Source: World Integrated Trade Solution database (WITS). 31
Expensive imported inputs hurt competitiveness Source: Brambilla et al. (2016). 32
Local content rules are used frequently Source: Stone et al. (2015). 33
Export performance has been weak Source: OECD Economic Outlook database. 34
Lower-income consumers would benefit most from lower trade barriers Potential gains in purchasing power, by deciles of the income distribution Source: Arnold et al. (2018) 35
Most sectors will benefit from more openness Estimated responses of value added to changes in trade protection Sectors that may expand their activity Sectors that may reduce activity Source: Arnold et al. (2018) 36
Investing in training would improve access to better-paying jobs Source: OECD Public expenditure and participant stocks on LMP database; ILO; and ILO (2016) "What works. Active labour market policies in Latin America and the Caribbean." 37
Key recommendations Fostering the integration into the world economy Lower tariffs and scale back local content requirements. Bolster training and job search assistance programmes for affected workers. 38
Green growth challenges 39
Deforestation has picked up again km 2 30000 Deforestation in the Amazon area (legal definition) 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Source: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais 40
Key recommendations Strengthening green growth Ensure continuous reductions in deforestation, including through: Stronger enforcement Maintaining the status of areas currently under environmental protection. 41
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