Brasília – Economic activity slowed in Brazil in Q2 2016. The seasonally adjusted Brazilian Central Bank’s Economic Activity Index (IBC-Br) was down 0.53% compared with Q1. Year-on-year in Q2, it dropped 4.37% as per non-adjusted numbers, since equal periods are being compared.
In June, the IBC-Br was up 0.23% from May (seasonally adjusted). Brazil’s GDP shrank by 5.96% in H1 and 5.67% in the 12 months through June. A tracker of economic activity, the IBC-Br is a policymaking tool relied upon by the Central Bank for setting the benchmark interest rate, known as the Selic rate.
The index comprises data on activity levels across three sectors of economy: industry, trade and services, and agriculture, as well as tax revenues. The official measure of economic performance in Brazil is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) computed by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
