David Biller – Bloomberg, 08/04/2012
Brazil’s industrial production rose for the second consecutive month in July, the first back-to-back increase in more than a year, cementing economist expectations that growth is accelerating as a result of stimulus measures.
Output in July rose 0.3 percent from the previous month, the national statistics agency said today in Rio de Janeiro. Economists had expected output to increase 0.2 percent, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 42 analysts. Production fell 2.9 percent from a year ago.
President Dilma Rousseff’s government last week extended for several months tax cuts on cars and appliances, and the central bank reduced borrowing costs to a record low, in a bid to boost flagging growth that was an annualized 1.64 percent in the second quarter. The stimulus led to record car sales in August, and the recovery could soon spread to other industries, said Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
