What next in Brazilian impeachment proceedings

Gross domestic product contracted 1.7% in the third quarter from the second, according to Brazilian statistics agency IBGE, the third consecutive quarter-on-quarter contraction.

She has faced repeated calls to step down, but with Rousseff herself facing no accusations of wrongdoing in the Petrobras scandal, her opponents’ calls have until now gone unheeded.

“There is still no light at the end of the tunnel”, said Luciano Rostagno, chief strategist at Banco Mizuho in Sao Paulo.

Economists polled by Bloomberg had predicted Brazil’s GDP would contract by 1.2 percent. “There is a reasonable case to be made that Brazil is now enduring its worst recession since 1930-32”. In 2014, contraction was 2.6 per cent.

The prospects are not encouraging. Investment and exports also fell.

“A stabilization in inflation could create room for the central bank to cut interest rates by mid 2016, potentially laying groundwork for a return to growth next year”, Adams said, adding that “the weak competitiveness of Brazil’s non-commodity sectors and the persistence of low global commodity prices” could make a recovery tougher.

That could be a wild card for her as she fights for her political life.

Lawmakers have already revolted against Rousseff and Finance Minister Joaquim Levy’s proposals for new taxes and spending cuts, forcing them to slash fiscal targets repeatedly and cancel a trip to Japan to stay within federal budget rules.

A special commission in the lower house, in which all political are proportionally represented, must now way the decision of speaker Eduardo Cunha to open the proceedings against Rousseff based on accusations her government broken fiscal responsibility laws.

“If the Worker’s Party stays in power, it will take us decades to recover what is being lost”, opposition Senator Ronaldo Caiado tweeted about the latest data.

Amidst ongoing political uncertainty and growing pessimism amongst both consumers and the business community, the recession in Brazil became worse than expected in the third quarter of 2015.

Rousseff yesterday pressed leaders of the House and the Senate to push through unpopular austerity measures to bring some relief to the nation.