David Biller – Bloomberg, 08/31/2012
Brazil’s economy in the second quarter showed signs that it’s turning the corner after a year of stagnation as government stimulus measures help offset the impact of the global crisis.
Gross domestic product expanded 0.4 percent from the previous three months, the fastest pace in a year, the national statistics agency said today. That compares with a median forecast of 0.5 percent growth in a Bloomberg survey of 51 analysts.
While that pace is four times the revised 0.1 percent first-quarter growth, economists say there’s little evidence of a strong recovery. With industrial output falling amid Europe’s debt crisis and weaker demand from China for Brazil’s exports, tax breaks to spur consumption won’t be enough to ensure that growth this year exceeds that of the U.S. and Japan, according to Bloomberg surveys of economists. Brazil’s economy grew at an annualized pace of 1.64 percent in the April-June period.
