Brazil´s exports to China will reach USD 100 billion a year within a decade, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said, lauding the economic boost from his Government´s policy mix of low interest rates and a weak exchange rate.
“In the next 10 years our forecasts are for USD 100 billion of exports to China per year,” Guedes said in an online live event Monday, adding that a reduction in import taxes will ideally be part of wider tax reform.
Brazil’s exports to China have exceeded $60 billion in each of the last two years and are on course to repeat that this year.
Guedes also said he would like trade with India to reach USD 100 billion a year, which would mark a huge jump from last year’s USD 7 billion.
The Brazilian minister said opening up Brazil’s goods transportation market is on the government’s agenda, and is also one of the conditions from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development rich club of nations for Brazil’s entry.
In an address to the Rio de Janeiro Federation of Industries, Guedes said record low interest rates, currently 2%, are supporting exports and fueling a construction boom.
He also reiterated his view that the economy is undergoing a “V-shaped” recovery and creating jobs, and said the government’s economic reform program will accelerate once this month’s local elections are done.
“In the next two years we will privatize, open the economy, simplify and reform the tax system, and reindustrialize the economy,” Guedes said.
He also said that jobs lost in this year’s recession could be a fifth of those lost in the 2015 and 2016 recessions.
The latest average private sector forecasts for the Brazilian GDP in 2020 are for a fall of around 4.5%.
