Weak currency makes Brazil a shopping paradise for luxury goods

While Brazil’s currency, the real, is crippling the country’s economy and the nation is heading for its worst recession in a quarter-century, it's great news for some shoppers for high-end goods.

The plunge in the value of the Brazilian real, the world’s worst-performing major currency this year, made the luxury goods much more affordable in the country, according to Bloomberg.

Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tiffany, Salvatore Ferragamo, Christian Louboutin, Cartier and other luxury brands are now cheaper in Sao Paolo than anywhere else.  A Cartier watch (with various sales taxes) can be now bought for just $9,326 (32,700 reals) in Sao Paolo, $580 cheaper than on Fifth Avenue in New York. One can also find very nice bargains on Ferragamo ties, Tiffany watches, Prada wallets and Louis Vuitton purses.

“It’s truly a momentary phenomenon,” Nadya Hamad, the manager of a Louboutin shoe store at the JK Iguatemi mall in Sao Paulo told Bloomberg News. “We used to get complaints about how much more expensive things were here. Now our customers are coming in saying how much cheaper it is.”

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While high-end items are getting cheaper in the country, prices for standard goods for ordinary Brazilians are surging. The economy is currently in a deep recession with the real plunging 24 percent against the dollar this year, and the country is gripped by a government corruption scandal.