Committed to Marina Silva, Itaú is the most pessimistic bank.
The worst forecast for Brazilian economic growth in 2014 comes from the bank headed by Roberto Setubal, whose heir is his sister, Neca: 0,1%; this projection was sent to clients; earlier, at Unibanco's 90th anniversary celebration, Setubal declared his vote for "change," referring to Marina Silva, whose Instituto Marina Silva is the largest funder, with donations of R$ 1 million last year; Itaú's profit in the first half of the year was R$ 9,31%; change to earn more?
247 - Itaú Unibanco, which two years ago offered R$ 0,01 for the operation of Banco Postal, with its thousands of established branches, is now once again using the decimal point (1). In a report to clients, the bank owned by the Setúbal and Moreira Salles families lowered its GDP growth projection for 2014 from 0,6% to 0,1%. This is the lowest market forecast, even lower than that made by Mauá Sekular, owned by former Central Bank director Luiz Fernando Figueiredo, who served during Armínio Fraga's presidency and now predicts a GDP increase of only 0,3%.
The new assessment of the economic situation by Itaú, whose chief economist is another former director of the Central Bank during Fraga's time, Ilan Goldfajn, aligns with the evaluation of the American credit rating agency Moody's, which also on Tuesday the 9th changed its outlook for the Brazilian economy from stable to negative.
As is well known, projections from economic agents, especially those made by the largest ones – Itaú Unibanco is the largest private bank in the country, with profits exceeding R$ 4,42 billion in the second quarter – have enough power to encourage or scare away investors. Outlooks also influence consumer habits and moods, which can exacerbate economic problems or contribute to overcoming them.
Itaú itself, however, has nothing to complain about. Presided over by Roberto Setubal, the bank has never been as profitable as it is now. Setubal himself, at Unibanco's 90th anniversary celebration, declared his support for "change," referring to Marina Silva. It is believed that this change will be for the better. In the first half of the year alone, Itaú posted a profit of R$ 9,31 billion, a figure 35% higher than that achieved last year. In other words, for the Setubal family's bank there was 35% growth in six months, but for them, Brazil will only grow 0,1% in an entire year.
Roberto's sister, Neca Setubal, is one of the main advisors to the PSB candidate and responsible for 82% of the resources obtained last year by the Marina Silva Institute. Neca made a deposit of R$ 1 million into the foundation's account. Besides the Itaú heiress, the Institute received only one other donation throughout 2013.