LatinNews Daily - 20 July 2023

* Brazil’s finance ministry has released its bi-monthly Boletim MacroFiscal report on economic activity, which showed an annual GDP growth forecast of 2.5%. This latest forecast marked an increase from the previous edition of the bulletin, released in May, which predicted only 1.9% growth. The positive outlook was mainly driven by the higher growth forecast for the agriculture sector, which is expected to see 13.2% annual growth, a major improvement compared to 2022, when the sector saw an annual contraction of 1.7%. However, the bulletin’s projections were less positive for other sectors, such as industrial production and the services sector. Brazil’s industrial sector saw 1.6% annual growth in 2022, but this latest report predicted 2023 to register only 0.8% growth. The services sector saw 4.2% growth in 2022 but is expected to grow by 1.7% in 2023. The government’s GDP forecast was slightly higher than predictions from other institutions, such as the central bank (BCB). Private sector experts and analysts consulted by the BCB, whose latest forecasts were published in the bank’s weekly Focus bulletin, predicted an annual GDP growth rate of 2.24% for 2023.