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EspañolBrazil is undergoing it’s worst recession in history according to new statistics that were released this week.
Data provided by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IGBE) revealed that the GDP has dropped by 4.4 percent.
“It is as if starting from that year we had lost all subsequent growth,” IGBE Spokesperson Rebeca Palls said.
In 2016, Brazil’s GDP returned to its 2010 size, right after former President Luis Lula da Silva left office, and has continued on a downward spiral ever since.
In addition to economic contraction and a decreasing GDP, the service sector also suffered a 2.7-percent decline. Officials said this is a serious, fundamental concern because the service sector represents 70 percent of the total economy.
Investment fell 10.2 percent in 2016, a drop economists link to Brazil’s suffering interest rates.
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Carlos Kawall, Safra Bank Chief Economist in Sao Paulo, said that the country will see zero growth in 2017, and even beyond that.
“We do not expect to see a big recovery this year,” he said. “We will have to wait until 2018.”
Source: Reuters
