The Brazilian economy closed the year 2022 with an accumulated growth of 2.9%, according to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) data released this Thursday (2) by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). The result came in slightly below the median of market estimates. Analysts consulted by the Bloomberg agency projected a high of 3%. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the GDP was negative after five consecutive increases. The decrease was 0.2% in relation to the immediate previous three months, which reflects a scenario of deceleration of economic activity.
The loss of pace was expected by analysts due to the lagged effect of the rise in interest rates. The negative variation was in line with the projections of economists consulted by Bloomberg, which also pointed to a decrease of 0.2%.
"The continuous increase in interest rates has a certain delay [delay]. So, it was already expected that the economy, with these high-interest rates, would go into a slowdown", said Rebeca Palis, coordinator of National Accounts at the IBGE. The 2.9% growth in 2022 is the second in a row, after a 5% increase in 2021. The economy had already suffered a 3.3% drop in 2020, the initial period of the pandemic. With the new result, the average annual growth of the economy in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government was 1.45%, according to preliminary data (the numbers for 2021 and 2022 can still be revised).
Translated by Cassy Dias