Brazil & Southern Cone - June 2009 (ISSN 1741-4431)

The economy minister, Álvaro Garcí­a, has lowered the official forecast for real annual GDP growth in 2009 to 2%, from 3% previously. Some local economists say that growth will be even lower because the respectable industrial output figures in the first quarter benefit from the contribution from Botnia, a Finnish pulp mill, which only came into operation fully at the end of 2008.  Excluding Botnia, the decline in industrial production in the first two months was about 10%.What is clear is that some industries are reeling. Textiles output was down 35% anually in the first two months. Car production fell 39%, while leather goods were down 28%.

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