Late in, first out | The Economist

"Brazil is the first Latin American country to emerge from recession"


"Brazil is the first Latin American country to emerge from recession—and one of the earliest among the G-20 countries to have done so—following a 1.9% quarter-on-quarter expansion in economic activity in the April-to-June period. Whereas the global environment remains difficult and the export sector therefore continues to struggle, the strength of domestic demand has propelled the economy to the start of a recovery.

The second-quarter rebound came after two consecutive quarters of shrinkage (1% in the first three months of 2009 and 3.4% in the last three months of 2008), which had put Brazil into a technical recession. This relatively short recession was the first for Brazil since 2003. The quick economic rebound is attributable to the strength of domestic demand, particularly household expenditure, which grew by 2.1% in the second quarter. Exports of goods and services grew by 14.1%, while imports rose by 1.5%, government consumption grew barely, at 0.1%, while gross fixed investment was flat quarter on quarter."

Full article: Late in, first out The Economist
From the Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire