President Dilma Rousseff appealed to Brazilians to back fiscal austerity policies, while saying that the belt-tightening will last as long as needed and positive results will only start showing at the end of this year, Reuters said. With the economy stalled and relations with her coalition allies in disarray due to a massive corruption investigation at state-run oil company Petrobras, Rousseff needs support for unpopular steps to reduce a gaping deficit and save Brazil’s investment grade rating on its debt from a downgrade by ratings agencies. “This is a process that will last as long as necessary to rebalance our economy,” Rousseff said in a nationally televised speech.
