The crisis in the Brazilian market creates opportunities for Israelis

The Brazilian market has been in an increasingly deep recession for many months. GNP contracted by 1.9% in the second quarter of 2015, inflation has resurfaced and threatens to exceed 10% annually, and the proportion of jobseekers is also rising. The real's exchange rate against the dollar has reached its highest level since 2003 and currently stands at 3.84 reais to the dollar. The sharp depreciation of the real is also creating inflationary pressure on imported goods.
The major sporting events, the World Cup (2014) and Olympics (2016), have not only failed to help the economy; they have worsened the situation through numerous corrupt transactions involving contractors and political operatives close to the corrupt Workers' Party administration led by Luiz Inácio Lula and Dilma Rousseff. Dozens of directors and politicians are now detained on suspicion of bribery, fraud, breach of trust, false entries in corporate records and other offenses.
Brazil is now one step away from its government bonds becoming junk bonds because the current government cannot pass a comprehensive spending-cut program (Brazil's government has 39 ministers, including a fisheries minister, an agriculture minister and an agricultural development minister…). This could deepen the crisis and further depreciate the already weak real.
Nevertheless, the current situation creates an interesting position for Israeli investors. First, the exchange rate between the real and shekel has reached almost one to one. Recall that around four years ago it stood at two shekels to the real, and a year ago at 1.6 reais to the shekel, as the chart below shows:

Source: Yahoo Finance

This creates interesting opportunities for Israeli importers, since products previously considered expensive because of exchange-rate differences are now very cheap. Brazil is the world's leading coffee exporter and also exports products such as soybeans, meat and leather.
Second, the deep recession naturally affects the housing market, creating interesting opportunities for Israeli investors wishing to diversify their portfolios. The situation will probably become much worse before improving, so it will be interesting to wait and see how far apartment prices fall.
Finally, interest rates in Brazil are among the world's highest! The Brazilian interbank interest rate is currently 14.15% a year! Returns can therefore be achieved that are far higher than those in the Israeli market.
Investment in Brazil undoubtedly involves substantial risk, both because of the geographical distance and because of the Brazilian market's heavy regulation and unpredictable developments. Nevertheless, it is worth examining whether the current market situation can be used to create attractive investment opportunities.

Note: the above does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to enter into a transaction. Before any transaction with a party in Brazil, consultation with experts in the relevant fields is recommended.