Brazil's economy to speed up recovery in coming months

Source: Xinhua | 2019-12-18

Brazil's economy has gained momentum and will pick up speed over the coming months, the Central Bank of Brazil's Monetary Policy Committee said on Tuesday.

"The following quarters will see a certain acceleration," the committee said, noting one contributing factor was its Dec. 11 decision to reduce the annual benchmark interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, to 4.5 percent.

Brazil's industrial sector also struck an optimistic note on the economy, forecasting a 2.5-percent expansion in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, following a 1.2-percent growth in GDP in 2019.

In a report also released Tuesday, the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) said the driving factor will be the industrial sector, which is expected to see a growth of 2.8 percent next year thanks to a 6.5-percent increase in investment.

This year, industrial GDP is projected to expand by 0.7 percent, with investment in the sector increasing 2.8 percent, said the report.

"The guarantee that this growth will materialize are the continued changes in the economy, which will generate a better business environment and more security for companies," Flavio Castelo Branco, executive manager of economic policy at CNI, said during the presentation of the report.

CNI's president, Robson Andrade, said public policy decisions, including lowering the benchmark interest rate, were helping Brazil's economic recovery.