Brazilian billionaire businessperson, Magazine Luiza
Luiza Trajano faz forte alerta: “A população está endividada e com dificuldade de consumir”
Em entrevista à TMC, a empresária Luiza Trajano, presidente do conselho do Magazine Luiza, analisou o cenário econômico brasileiro na virada de 2025 para 2026. A entrevista abordou os impactos dos juros altos, o comportamento do crédito, o nível de endividamento das famílias e os desafios do varejo em um contexto de instabilidade global, marcado por conflitos internacionais, custo do petróleo e pressão sobre a economia.
Luiza também comentou a importância do emprego, do consumo e da produtividade como motores da economia brasileira.
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About Luiza Trajano
Luiza Helena Trajano, president of the board of directors of Magazine Luiza, has appeared in several interviews and podcasts in recent months, discussing leadership, gender equity, retail innovation, and artificial intelligence. In a July 2026 episode of the Na Caixa podcast, she said she has "often had to give up profit for purpose" but added that "profit is indispensable." On the Equity Channel, she described quotas as "a transitional process to correct an inequality" and stated, "If you don't do it for purpose, do it because it gives profit." She also spoke about the role of women in business, saying she wants "50% of women in high-level positions" and that women should "sit together with men" to make decisions. Trajano has also addressed the future of physical retail and technology. At a LIDE event, she said "the physical store will not disappear" but must "sell experience, encounter." She described artificial intelligence as "a tsunami" and noted that Magazine Luiza has integrated AI into customer service, including a WhatsApp feature. In a conversation on the PodeMãe podcast, she discussed the company's new physical concept, the Galeria Magalu, which combines retail, a theater, and a YouTube studio. She also encouraged entrepreneurs in Franca, saying "the entrepreneur is the one who seeks solutions."
Transcript (9 segments)
F
Felipe0:00
And from now on we're going to talk here on our TMC 360 with the businesswoman Luiza Trajano, chairwoman of the board of Magazine Luiza. How are you? Everything good?
L
Luiza Trajano0:12
Good morning.
Hi, good morning, Felipe. Good morning, Dani. How are you both doing? Everything good?
F
Felipe0:19
Everything good. It's a pleasure to have you here for a chat. Let's start then by talking about what you're seeing, what you're perceiving in the country's economic situation, in this transition from 2025 to 2026, with this international context of war, concern with the cost of oil, energy, freight. You depend a lot on the issue of freight, of fuel. Is it a moment of concern or a moment of opportunity?
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Luiza Trajano0:49
Well, Felipe and Dani, and everyone listening. I've lived through every kind of crisis you can imagine. Every kind of crisis. I think I've spent more time living in crisis than not, right? Because globally we have this war that disrupts oil, the cost of oil, and oil affects not just us, but everyone. The cost of oil is very serious, and that's not in our hands. On the other hand, for me, the worst thing is, on the other hand, we have very strong employment. You know that a developing economy lives on employment and credit. So, as long as employment is strong, it's the only way money enters the economy, through employment. So, we have one of the highest employment rates, we have some very positive things, but there is one thing that I think hinders things a lot, a lot, a lot, which is high interest rates. I think what hurts retail the most is high interest rates, and it mainly affects the small and micro entrepreneur, and the large ones too, but the small one is, I think, the one that suffers the most. And interest rates have started to show signs of coming down, which is a good thing. Then there's this global crisis that hurts a lot, but Brazil is a country that overcomes crises through a lot of hard work. We overcome crises, just as Magalu has overcome them to this day.
D
Dani Lima2:16
Luiza, Dani Lima here again. It's important for those following us to know that Luiza Trajano is one of the most well-known and important businesswomen in Brazil, and she has been a critic of high interest rates for many years, since they started climbing after the war in Ukraine, and they haven't started coming down at the speed desirable for those investing in the country, not investing in the financial market, but investing in the country for a long time. So, but you mentioned employment and credit. Credit, we have the issue of high interest rates, which makes it difficult, and we have indebtedness. I wanted to ask, Trajano, if you can bring the experience of someone on the front lines dealing with the numbers, especially in retail and with those who work with installment plans, which is a tradition at Magazine Luiza. Have you seen a worsening in the issue of debts among your consumers?
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Luiza Trajano3:11
Oh Dani, we work very well with credit approval and with collections, because default is a... I say that default is a termite that has already caused so much damage. So, of course, the default rates haven't decreased, but for us, they haven't reached a level much higher than what we already expected with a high interest rate crisis. So, for us, but we know the population is indebted, the government is even taking some measures to reduce it, but I think the population, besides being indebted, is in no condition to buy much, because very high interest rates make it difficult to buy, right? And making it difficult to buy hurts credit, which is the other pillar I mentioned to you. So, it's not good in any way. And it's a fight I have very strongly to lower interest rates. We have one of the highest interest rates in the world.
F
Felipe4:16
Regardless of the political side, we know the federal government in this election year is already working on some measures to facilitate credit for specific sectors. Just yesterday, there was an announcement for taxi drivers, for app-based drivers and so on. Isn't there a problem there in the medium term, that is, in the transition from 2026 to 2027, an indebtedness that ends up hitting commerce directly or indirectly, which is your area of operation, Luiza? Shouldn't we be thinking about that point too?
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Luiza Trajano4:50
Oh, Felipe, all my life the government, not just this one, but others, has made some concessions for certain segments, especially during election time. And when the market is good, employment is good, and interest rates are at a manageable level, it's fine, we're used to living like that. I don't think that giving a concession to taxi drivers now will hurt things in the future. If it manages to generate more volume, more productivity, that puts more money into the market. The problem is putting more money into the market and having more productivity. But I don't feel that it's a segment that will hurt the future. What hurts are much more global things, as you mentioned at the beginning: high interest rates, land, global instability with everything. One day it's one thing, the next day it's another. That hurts a lot.