Bolsonaro Davos speech will not ease Brazil concerns
The president's Davos debut was thin on detail and environmental reassurances, while a new payments probe may hit reform
President Jair Bolsonaro made his debut speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday, a short and carefully scripted statement aimed at attracting investor interest. He promised to take steps to liberalise trade and reduce the corporate tax burden, as well as expanding privatisations and reforming the bloated pension system, albeit without giving details of planned fiscal reforms. Mindful of widespread international concern over the new government's environmental policy, the speech promised to "harmonise environmental preservation with much-needed economic development", although his focus on boosting agribusiness offered no detail on how to balance agricultural and environmental priorities. One project to be privatised is part of the Trans-Amazonian Highway, it was announced yesterday, inaugurated by the military dictatorship in the 1970s and widely criticised for its impact on deforestation. Bolsonaro's Davos appearance was at least partially overshadowed by widening investigations into suspect payments involving 27 former members of the Rio de Janeiro state assembly, including the president's son and his then driver.
Our judgement
As has happened with corruption scandals in the past, there will be concerns as to whether current probes will hamper Bolsonaro's ability to pass pension and other reforms -- and indeed how investigations touching his family will be handled.
- Brief forthcoming.