Dilma’s second term agenda takes shape

The key elements of Brazil’s President Rousseff’s policy agenda for her second term in office have started to emerge over the past month. The central theme is a return to “orthodoxy”, with fiscal and monetary policy likely to tighten. But while a period of belt-tightening is long overdue, the result will be continued economic weakness over the next year. What’s more, the reforms needed to raise productivity and medium-term growth have been notably absent from recent policy announcements.