"I have savings to last another week. After that, I leave it to God! " Rene Mello, 42, living in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro, is not reassured. Confined to his home for several days with eight dependent children, this meat delivery man now counts every penny spent. "I worked for the day, for 5 reais (0.90 euro) Of time. But, with the virus, restaurants closed, and everything stopped overnight. I hope my landlord and the power company will be willing to wait a bit for me to pay rents and bills … "he said with a sigh.
Like millions of other Brazilians, Rene Mello is one of the first victims of the economic explosion triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The forecasts are dramatic for this country, which was just beginning to recover from the appalling economic crisis of 2014: the central bank lowered its forecast for gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 2.2% to zero for 2020. The Fondation Getulio Vargas (FGV) is even more pessimistic, anticipating a contraction of 2% of GDP.
Since this week, with variations according to regions and cities, non-essential businesses are closing all over the country. The crisis has only just begun, but the consequences of the Covid-19 are already visible in all sectors of activity. The oil giant Petrobras will cut its investments by 30% in 2020. In the free zone of Manaus, in the Amazon, the big factories of the South Korean Samsung and the Japanese Honda are stopped. Tom Jobim International Airport in Rio predicts a 90% drop in flights in April. In Sao Paulo, the country's economic capital, 10% of the city's bars and restaurants could be shut down because of the crisis, and 30,000 employees will be unemployed, according to sector unions.
A "grippette"
But the most affected are the precarious workers, and in particular the 38 million Brazilians working in the informal sector (41% of the working population), who have no contract or social minima, and whose average income rarely exceeds the 200 to 300 euros. Housekeepers, cooks, delivery people, street vendors … Many, in recent days, have been sent home or dismissed by their employers, often by a simple WhatsApp message.
"We can't (stop it all) because 5,000 or 7,000 people are going to die," said Junior Dursk, owner of the restaurant chain specializing in meat Madero.
