Brazilian retail sales jumped at a record pace in May, official figures showed on Wednesday, suggesting the economy could be on a recovery path as authorities gradually lift social isolation measures taken to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Brazil's financial analysts downgraded their economic growth forecast for 2020 from -5.89% to -6.25%, marking the 16th downward adjustment in a row, the Central Bank of Brazil said on Monday.
Oil prices slumped on Friday after China's decision to omit an economic growth target for 2020 renewed concerns that the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will continue to depress fuel demand in the world's second-largest oil user.
Brazil’s economy expanded by 1.1% in 2019, marking a third straight year of frustrating activity following a massive recession, according to data released on Wednesday.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut its 2020 Brazilian economic growth outlook to under 2.0%, while JP Morgan reduced its outlook for Latin America’s largest economy even further below the threshold that many observers say is highly sensitive for President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration.
The coronavirus epidemic could damage global economic growth this year, the IMF head said on Sunday, but a sharp and rapid economic rebound could follow. “There may be a cut that we are still hoping would be in the 0.1 to 0.2 percentage space,” the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, told the Global Women's Forum in Dubai.
Brazil posted a trade deficit of US$1.745 billion in January, official data showed on Monday, the first shortfall for the month of January in five years and an indication that trade might continue to be a drag on overall economic growth.
The U.S. economy will grow at a solid rate of 2.2% this year, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office forecast on Tuesday, but with federal budget deficits hitting US$1.015 trillion.
Global economic growth is likely to be only slightly faster this year than the weak 0performance seen in 2019, according to a World Bank forecast. The world economy is likely to expand by 2.5% in 2020, up from 2.4% last year, the Bank's economists predict.
Uruguayans head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president, 30 senators and 99 Lower House members. If none of the eleven presidential candidates manages 50% of cast votes plus one on 27 October, a runoff between the two hopefuls with most support is scheduled for 24 November.