Loading ...News - Brazil to Build 1 Million Homes by 2010, Lula Says
Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) — Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said the government will help build 1 million new homes by 2010 to revive economic growth as the global financial crisis leads to layoffs in Latin America’s largest economy.
Lula, speaking to reporters today in Brasilia, said he’s discussing with state and municipal governments how to best use federal resources for the building drive. A detailed plan will be announced soon, he said.
“The construction industry is extremely important for generating jobs, and providing dynamism to the economy and steel industry, above all for the least skilled workers in the country,” Lula said.
Brazil’s economy came to a standstill at the end of 2008 as factories curtailedproduction, commodity prices plunged and demand for Brazilian exports dropped. Lula’s government is increasing outlays on construction, which accounted for a fifth of new jobs last year, and on infrastructure in response to the global slowdown.
A record 655,000 Brazilians lost their jobs in December as companies loweredoutput by 14.5 percent, the most in 17 years, to adjust to falling demand. The government today extended the period for unemployment benefits to seven months from five months in response to the wave of layoffs.
7 Million Homes
Brazil needs to build at least 7 million homes in the next 15 years to meet current demand for families earning less than 2,000 reais ($869) a month, Jose Carlos Martins, vice president of the Brazilian Construction Industry Chamber, said in an interview Jan. 8.
Economic growth is expected to slow to 1.7 percent this year, according to a central bank survey of 100 economists published Feb. 9. Economists from Morgan Stanley are forecasting zero growth this year, saying Brazil has already entered a “technical recession.”
Brazil has already injected about $100 billion into the banking system in an effort to lessen the effects of the global credit crisis, BNP Paribas said in a Feb. 11 report. The government has also cut taxes by 8.4 billion reais to stimulate consumer spending, which is responsible for about 60 percent of gross domestic product, and meet a 4 percent growth target this year.
Source: Bloomberg.
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