Loading ...News - Lula Says Brazil’s 3rd-Qtr GDP Grew at ‘Chinese Pace’
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) - Brazil’s economy may have expanded about 9 percent in the third quarter, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in his weekly newspaper column published today on Diario de Pernambuco’s Web site.
Lula said the economy is growing at a “Chinese pace,” while the country’s international reserves, at $233 billion, have brought stability that guarantees funding for investment in social programs and infrastructure, he wrote.
“Among several indicators that resulted from this highly favorable scenario, I can cite the surplus, in a year of crisis, of 1 million government-registered jobs and third-quarter gross domestic product, which should register growth at a Chinese pace of about 9 percent,” Lula wrote.
After leading an economic rebound in emerging markets, Latin America’s biggest economy has to “manage its own success” and plan its actions for a long-term horizon, central bank President Henrique Meirelles said yesterday.
To help pull the $1.6 trillion economy out of its first recession since 2003, policy makers this year cut the benchmark interest rate to a record low 8.75 percent, injected about 100 billion reais ($58 billion) into money markets and cut taxes on cars and consumer goods to help fuel demand.
The interest rate cuts are now influencing growth, helping to speed up Brazil’s economy, Zeina Latif, chief economist for Brazil at ING Bank in Sao Paulo, said in a phone interview.
“It will be healthy to raise rates next year, as the current level leading to a more heated economy,” she added.
The central bank may have to start raising the so-called Selic rate as soon as April if Brazil’s economic recovery continues at a fast pace, Paulo Leme, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief economist for Latin America, said yesterday.
Companies such as AmBev, Latin America’s biggest brewer, and Portugal Telecom SGPS SA, co-owner of Brazil’s biggest mobile-phone company, have sought to capitalize on growth in Brazil by announcing new spending plans this year. State-owned oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA is implementing a $174.4 billion spending plan that’s set to run until 2013.
The Finance Ministry forecasts that the country’s economy will expand 1 percent this year, while the central bank estimates 0.8 percent growth in 2009.
The real declined 0.5 percent to 1.7204 per dollar at 12:17 p.m. New York time from 1.7122 yesterday.
Source: Bloomberg.
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