LatinNews Daily - 19 September 2023

* The secretariat of economic policy (SPE) in Brazil’s finance ministry has released the September edition of its bi-monthly Boletim MacroFiscal report on economic activity, which showed an annual GDP growth forecast of 3.2%, marking an increase from the SPE’s previous forecast in July of 2.5% growth. The SPE increased its growth forecasts for all sectors. The projection for the agricultural sector was raised from 13.2% in July to 14.0%, the industrial sector projection was raised from 0.8% growth to 1.5% and the services forecast was increased from 1.7% to 2.5%. The more optimistic growth projections were influenced by strong harvest forecasts as well as the expectation that the economy of China, Brazil’s largest trade partner, would recover in the fourth quarter of 2023. Private sector analysts and economists, whose projections are released in the central bank (BCB)’s weekly Focus bulletin, also raised their annual growth forecast, although not as high as the government’s figures. In the latest bulletin published on 18 September, experts predicted 2.89% GDP growth, up from the 2.64% forecast a week earlier and from the 2.29% forecast a month earlier.