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São Paulo, March 18 (EFECOM).- The economic activity of Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, grew by 0.60% last January compared to December, reflecting a slowdown already anticipated by financial agents, reported this Monday the Central Bank.
The result for the first month of 2024 is lower than the 0.82% expansion registered in December 2023 in comparison with November of that same year.
However, the economic activity index, considered a prior measurement of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), rose 3.45% compared to January of last year.
Following January’s result, the South American country’s year-on-year growth now stands at 2.47%.
The Brazilian economy grew by 2.9% in 2023, in the first year of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government, and thus chained three consecutive years of expansion, thanks to the strength of its agricultural sector, although the result was slightly lower to that of 2022 (3%) and 2021 (4.8%).
For this year, the financial market foresees a slowdown in the productive sectors and has limited this year’s GDP growth to 1.78%, according to the latest projections from financial analysts consulted by the Central Bank.
The country’s inflation today stands at 4.50% year-on-year, right at the ceiling of the goal for 2024.
Prices have gradually fallen over the last year, prompting the Central Bank to loosen its monetary policy and cut official interest rates to 11.25% annually.
However, in February inflation was 0.83% after closing January at 0.42%, a rebound that could stop the cycle of interest rate declines, which would predictably have negative impacts on GDP growth. EFECOM
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