July 15, 1983

In a move aimed at getting the money it needs to meet a debt payment due Friday, the Brazilian Government has agreed to curb the so-called indexation of its economy, a once-hailed innovation that protected workers' salaries against large increases in the cost of living. The Government's action, taken Wednesday night, took the form of a new regulation restricting salary increases in the next two years to a level 20 percent below the official cost of living figure. Under indexation, salaries had been automatically increased every six months to keep up with inflation. Indexation, a concept first popularized by the Brazilians in the 1970's and since adopted by other countries, ties not only wages but also taxes, rents and a range of other consumer costs to movements in the cost of living.

To the merchants along Avenue D in Brooklyn the empty storefront is a sore spot, as painful and unsightly as the space left by a newly missing tooth. ''Look, this is what happened to business when the bank closed,'' said Allen Spiro, the owner of a floor covering store in the East Flatbush neighborhood, as he pointed to the empty parking spaces up and down his block. Asserting that the closing last month was a setback in the neighborhood's decade-long struggle against deterioration, Mr. Spiro said: ''Since Citibank left, there have been less people on the street. Business has just dropped off. That bank was an anchor for this commercial strip.''

The leader of the Republican majority in the State Senate today ordered the Senate to reconvene July 25 to retaliate against Governor Cuomo for ousting a Republican from the State Commission of Investigation. ''The Republican Party of the state -the Republican majority of the Senate - will not be treated as a doormat by any governor,'' the leader, Warren M. Anderson, said in a statement. Senator Anderson said Governor Cuomo had broken an agreement made with former Gov. Hugh L. Carey to get approval from Republicans for certain nominees to the commission. But Mr. Cuomo said today that he ''was aware of no such agreement.''

MANY great composers have found inspiration in nature. It is said that Beethoven used to thrash through the woods, tinkering with nascent melodies along the way. The French composer Olivier Messiaen rises at dawn every day to listen to morning birdsong. Natural surroundings can provide an excellent ambience for experiencing music of all kinds. Fortunately for New Yorkers who would like to test this proposition for themselves there are plenty of places in and around the city, from elegant estates to city parks, where live outdoor music can be heard this weekend. There's Beethoven on the Hudson, Brazilian music in Manhattan, a tribute to Brooklyn's own Aaron Copland in Prospect Park and up at Tanglewood, there's Brahms. The atmosphere at these events varies as widely as the music. At most of these, a folding chair, a well-stocked picnic hamper, a bottle of wine are welcomed on the grounds at least; if there is any doubt, it's a good idea to call ahead. A sweater or a blanket, even on the mildest of evenings, is always advisable.

The House of Representatives, with the nearly unanimous support of the Republican minority, today approved a scaled-down version of the trade portion of President Reagan's 1982 Caribbean Basin Initiative. The bill, the second part of the Reagan proposal to be approved, would allow a variety of goods from the region to be imported dutyfree. An initial part of the package, $350 million in aid, was approved by Congress last year. A third part, tax proposals designed to stimulate investment in the area, have not been considered.