Any list of the things that hold back Bra-zil's economy would until recently have included overbearing state influence in the financial sector. The government controls Banco do Brasil, a huge retail bank, and Caixa Economica, the largest mortgage lender, plus the bndes, a big development bank that feeds cheap credit to favoured companies. Hugely expensive bank loans are a handicap, too. And yet under changed circumstances such lamentable policies suddenly look far-sighted, and have given the global downturn an unusual tinge in Brazil.rnOther countries are trying to work out how to run banks and direct credit to where politicians think it is needed. This is something Brazil did even when it was unfashionable. It is a sign of the times that a recent research note on Brazil from Goldman Sachs listed state involvement in banking as a plus. As for the private banks, the huge reserve requirements and taxes on funding that push up the price of their loans discouraged them from the wild risks that have brought down some peers in Europe and America. So far, credit in Brazil has been lightly chewed, not crunched.rnAlthough the country has been spared the worst of the financial crisis, the economy is weakening. Redundancies have shot up, reversing the job growth of recent years in the formal economy (see chart).
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机译：直到最近，阻碍巴西经济发展的所有因素清单中，都包括了在金融领域过分的国家影响力。政府控制着一家大型零售银行巴西银行（Banco do Brasil）和最大的抵押贷款银行Caixa Economica，还有一家大型开发银行本德银行（bonds），后者向受到青睐的公司提供廉价信贷。昂贵的银行贷款也是一个障碍。然而，在变化的情况下，这种可悲的政策突然看起来具有远见，并给全球经济衰退带来了巴西不同寻常的色彩。其他国家/地区则试图找出如何经营银行并将信贷直接投放到政治家认为需要的地方。即使是过时的巴西也这样做。这是时代的标志，高盛（Goldman Sachs）最近对巴西的一份研究报告指出，国家参与银行业为佳。至于私人银行，庞大的准备金要求和资金税提高了贷款价格，使它们免受了使欧美一些同业倒闭的巨大风险。到目前为止，巴西的信贷一直被轻度咀嚼，而不是紧缩。尽管该国已度过了金融危机最严重的时期，但经济却在疲软。裁员急剧增加，扭转了近年来正规经济中的就业增长（见图）。
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