RIO DE JANEIRO : Economic Showdown

The final battle in the war of political nerves over Brazil’s economy is slated to begin this week when the legislature gathers to decide the fate of the government’s embattled stabilization plan. Finance Minister Fernando Henrique Cardoso says that righting the economy, racked by monthly inflation mounting 40%, hinges on approval of a sweeping reform package.

But Cardoso has run into fierce resistance from legislators on the right, who believe the reform is too timid, and on the left, who want to block a constitutional reform. “We stagger from impasse to impasse,” Cardoso told reporters last week after Congress declined to approve the plan’s centerpiece, an emergency fund for the poorest Brazilians.