The president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the leftist Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), continues to enjoy record levels of popularity and favourable economic conditions. However, the government seems unlikely to capitalise on its strong position to advance any ambitious reforms before the governing coalition begins to unravel, as political manoeuvring starts ahead of mid-term elections in late 2008. A framework encompassing fiscal discipline, a floating exchange rate and inflation-targeting will be maintained. Measures to stimulate investment in infrastructure and tax breaks for targeted sectors will help to accelerate GDP growth beyond the country's sluggish long-term average. However, structural fiscal weaknesses will restrict the scope for increased public investment or an alleviation of the tax burden and will constrain the pace of interest rate reductions. Following real GDP growth of an estimated 4.7% in 2007, the Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts a moderate slowdown in 2008-09, with growth averaging 4.3%. The current-account surplus will narrow as import growth outweighs export expansion.