Much attention has been paid to the economic resurgence among the large emerging economies. In the previous blog - 'Crying Waiting and Hoping,' the positive growth predictions for India and China - is rather 'eye-popping' in the midst of the Great Recession. But noticeable also is the anemic growth predictions for Brazil and the evn more serious contractions predicted for Mexico.
But Brazilian officials are now signalling that Brazil has emerged out of a recession. Finance Minister Guido Mantego announced that Brazil grew at an annualized rate of 7.8 percent in the second qurater. The Finance Minister declraed that Brazil would grow faster than any other country in the Americas in 2009.
At this point the G5 appears to be split - strong growth in some but slow growth or contraction with oithers. Not only is Mexico noteworthy for the predicted contraction, but a quick look to the BRICs shows significant contraction by Russia. The July 2009 IMF prediction for Russia is a serious 6.5 percent contraction. Indeed, Russia's economy contracted by a serious 10.9 percent annulaized rate for the second quarter. Highly dependent on oil, it would appear that current prices are insufficient to push Russian economic growth.