Brazilian growth appears to have eased a little in the second quarter of this year and, thanks to a weak end to Q2 and the recent turmoil in markets, looks set to slow yet further in Q3. The question is whether this is a temporary soft patch or the warning sign of something more serious to come. Much will depend on how recent events elsewhere in the global economy pan out, but we remain of the view that growth will slow much more sharply than most currently seem to expect over the next couple of years.