Brazil: Economic activity expands at fastest pace in 10 months in December
In December, economic activity rose 1.4% from the previous month in seasonally-adjusted terms, according to the Central Bank’s monthly indicator for economic activity (IBC-Br, Indice de Atividade Economica do Banco Central). The result was notably above November’s revised 0.3% increase (previously reported: +0.5% month-on-month) and overshot market analysts’ expectations of a softer 1.1% rise. Moreover, the reading marked the fastest growth since February 2017.
On an annual basis, economic activity rose 2.1% in December, which was below November’s revised 2.6% expansion (previously reported: +2.8% year-on-year). For the full year 2017, economic activity grew 1.0%, rebounding after four years of contraction (2017: -4.0%). The result confirms that the economy is recovering after the deepest recession in its modern history.