Brasília – Brazilian economic activity grew 10.86% in April, in comparison with the same period in 2009, according to the Brazilian Central Bank’s Economic Activity Index, disclosed today (23).
As against March, the growth was 0.27%. According to figures disclosed by the BC, this index has been on the rise for 17 months. In the first quarter of the year, as against the same period in 2009, the growth of economic activity was 10.5%.
IBC-Br is a form of evaluating economic activity and contributes to the Central Bank’s decision regarding the benchmark interest rate, the Selic. When the institution considers that the economy is heated and that the tendency is for inflation, the Selic is raised, as was the case in April and this month. The Selic is currently at 10.25% per annum.
The Economic Policy director at the Central Bank, Hamilton Vasconcelos, explained, on May 19, that the IBC-Br incorporates and synthesizes known information about the economy, including industry, agriculture and services, figures used by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE) to calculate the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
The IBGE disclosed on the 8th that the economy of Brazil grew 9% in the first quarter of the year as against the same period in 2009, the largest growth since the figure started being recorded.
*Translated by Mark Ament
