After the failure of economic and fiscal policy, Meirelles says that 'psychology' helps the economy.

247 - Despite the country's largest fiscal deficit, expected to reach R$ 159 billion this year, and 14 million unemployed Brazilians, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said that "psychology" is also a significant component in helping the population regain confidence in the economy. "Some people ask me: when will it 'feel good'? When will the population feel the improvement? It's a question of a little bit of psychology, a little bit of reality," Meirelles stressed this Wednesday (23), during his participation in the Aço Brasil 2017 Congress, held in Brasília.

According to Meirelles, this improvement will only be felt when the population begins to stop fearing the risk of becoming unemployed. "When people start to see unemployment falling, a perception that the economy is improving, companies hiring, people begin to lose the fear of losing their jobs. That idea that now there is a greater degree of confidence, and this provides a basis for the recovery of the economy," he explained.

During his speech, the minister also admitted that the economic recovery is not yet reflected in sales. "The recovery is not yet fully perceptible in sales, in the sector. I know, I spoke with some of the sectors before the opening of the event," he said. "We all know that Brazil was in recession, the question is how long and deep the recession was. If we look at the fall in GDP [Gross Domestic Product] and the duration of quarters with declines, it was the biggest recession since GDP began to be measured in 1901," he emphasized. "That's what we faced, and that's what we're emerging from," he added.