Electric Goods Sales Drop in Brazil Updated: Mon, Jul 16 5:10 PM EDT

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Alarmed by the worst energy crisis in decades and their crumbling currency, Brazilians bought nearly a third fewer televisions, videos, sound systems and other small appliances in June, a trade group announced Monday.

According to the National Association of Electrical Goods Producers, sales of audio-visual products and small appliances fell 30.83 percent in June, compared to the same month last year. Over the first six months of the year, however, the sector still showed 3.16 percent growth.

The figures show just how fast prospects for Brazil's economy have dimmed this year. In January, the economy was growing fast and Brazil's currency, called the real, was stable at just under 2 to the dollar.

Since then, with Brazil's mainly hydroelectric national grid close to collapse and neighboring Argentina deep in crisis, the government fears its original 4.5 percent growth estimate could be halved. The real has slumped to 2.60 against the dollar.

The government introduced energy rationing May 1, forcing Brazilians to cut their electricity bills by a fifth or face heavy surcharges or power cuts.

"Rationing and higher interest and dollar rates impacted sales last month," the trade group's president, Paulo Saab, said in a statement.

Television sales fell nearly 21 percent, while sound systems were off 30.8 percent. Sales of small home appliances such as toasters, coffee machines and food processors were down by more than 68 percent. Ventilator fans were the exception, selling 16.5 percent more than last year. But that is because Brazilians are cutting down on the use of air conditioning.

http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010716/17/brazil-energy

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 17, 2001