LatinNews Daily - 17 May 2024

*The economic policy secretariat (SPE) of Brazil’s finance ministry has released the May edition of its Boletim MacroFiscal report, in which the SPE projected annual GDP growth in 2024 to be 2.5%. This marks an increase from the 2.2% forecast in the March edition of the bulletin. In its report, the secretariat attributed its improved outlook to factors such as “robust growth” in retail sales and in services provided to families and an expansion in activity in civil construction. The services sector is expected to grow by 2.7% this year, up from the 2.4% forecast in March. However, the SPE has slightly lowered its projections for agriculture and industry from its previous bulletin. The agricultural sector is expected to register an annual contraction of 1.4% this year; in March the SPE projected a 1.3% contraction. The industrial sector’s annual growth projection was brought down to 2.4% from the 2.5% forecast in March. The latest GDP estimates do not take into account the impact of the devastating floods in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul in recent weeks.