12 Sep 2009

Brazil out of recession

6:59 am on 12 September 2009

Germany and France have already done so.

Brazil is out of recession after its economy grew in the April-to-June quarter.

The largest economy in Latin America expanded by 1.9% in the second quarter from the previous three months.

Brazil has poured money into large-scale public infrastructure projects, cut taxes on new cars and passed tax breaks on companies and individuals.

The BBC reports the return to growth means that Brazil's recession was comparatively short, amounting to just two quarters of negative growth.

The IBGE statistics agency said the economy shrank by 1% in the first three months of 2009 - a revision from the previously-announced 0.8%.

Brazil saw a contraction of 3.4% in the last quarter of 2008.

On Thursday, the Brazilian government said inflation had slowed in August, giving a total of 4.4% for the past 12 months. The rate is below the central bank's 2009 inflation target of 4.5%.

Other countries also emerge

Sweden also emerged from recession on Friday, a sign that economies are starting to recover from the global economic downturn.

The BBC reports that others to come out recession include Germany and France.

Japan, the world's second-largest economy, also grew by 0.6% in the second quarter, less than the 0.9% growth the government initially estimated.