FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE BRAZILIAN CASE AFTER THE REAL PLAN

On the one hand, those who favor financial liberalization argue that it allows more efficient allocation of savings, which is vital to stimulating investment and economic growth. On the other hand, those who criticize financial liberalization see it as transferring income from the real sector to the financial sector and creating in-stability in the economic system. Events in Brazil, mainly during the 1990s, proved that arguments against financial liberalization had been correct. In light of that finding, the purpose of this article is to theoretically and empirically present how financial liberalization has been developed in Brazil since the 1990s.