Faster growth, low inflation, expanding credit and liberal trade are helping to create a new middle class
Montanhao takes its name from what it used to be not long ago: a rubbish dump. On the southern extremity of São Bernardo do Campo, a suburb of São Paulo, Montanhão's houses of brick and breeze-block straggle over abrupt hills next to a reservoir. With more than 110,000 people, it is one of the few districts in Brazil's biggest city where the population is still growing fast. It is also one of the poorest. But it is not nearly as poor as it was only a decade ago.
Its winding main street bustles with building-materials depots, gift and clothes shops, restaurants and several small supermarkets. One, called Dia, is part of a discount chain owned by France's Carrefour. Its closest competitor is Mercado Gonçalves, whose owner, Afonso Gonçalves, is a former street-vendor and factory electrician. Since 1997 his little shop has expanded more than fourfold to 480 square metres (5,200 square feet). It sells more than 10,000 separate items, from Nescafé and Colgate toothpaste to fresh meat, freshly baked bread and, locked in a glass case, imported whisky. According to Mr Gonçalves, “A lot of people here are very poor, but a lot are becoming middle class.”
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