Silvio Cascione, Luciana Otoni – Reuters, 12/20/2012
Brazil’s central bank acknowledged on Thursday that the economy will grow very little in 2012 and reinforced the case for a long period of low interest rates by forecasting that inflation should ease next year.
The bank lowered its 2012 economic growth forecast to 1.0 percent from 1.6 percent previously, matching market estimates, according to its latest quarterly inflation report.
The bank also lowered its 2013 inflation forecast to 4.8 percent from 4.9 percent previously, contrasting with market forecasts projecting inflation at 5.42 percent.
