Word: sarney
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...tone of the speech was neither defiant nor belligerent, but the words were fraught with danger for bankers around the world. As the television camera zoomed in and a concerned nation watched, a somber Brazilian President Jose Sarney dispensed with niceties and got right to the point: "I want to announce that the country is suspending payments of interest on its foreign debt." The action was necessary, he said, to prevent Brazil from running out of money. Still, he continued, "it was not easy to make a decision of this magnitude...
...goes on for long, it would be a direct hit on the earnings of dozens of major banks in the U.S. and Western Europe. It could set a perilous precedent for other major Latin American debtors, including Mexico ($105 billion owed) and Argentina ($52.3 billion). But as disturbing as Sarney's decision was, Brazil's deepening economic woes and dwindling currency reserves made it almost inevitable...
While not saying when Brazil might resume payments, Sarney expressed willingness to negotiate an interest formula that his country could meet without risking "recession and social crisis." He never used the word default and insisted his aim was not confrontation: "Brazil does not wish to be an autarkic economy outside the world community...
...better part of a year, President Jose Sarney of Brazil has taken a hard line on economic policy. His current goal: to combat runaway consumer spending, which threatens to boost imports and weaken Brazil's trade balance. To rein in the boom, Sarney last month raised taxes and increased prices on consumer items. Since then, labor leaders have demonstrated against Sarney, but the President has stood firm...
Last week Brazil's two leading unions tried to mount a major protest against Sarney's program, calling for a 24-hour general strike. Union officials argued that workers were hit the hardest by Sarney's reforms, but the public seemed to disagree. According to the government, only about 10% of Brazil's 20 million salaried workers walked off their jobs. The President felt vindicated. Said he: "Never has Brazil had a government that is so democratic or so identified with helping the poor...