RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil's July industrial output fell short of expectations, adding to signs of a slowdown in Latin America's largest economy as expectations build for the end of a series of central bank rate hikes. Industrial production in Brazil rose 0.5 percent in July from June, the government's statistics agency, IBGE, said on Wednesday..

Production had been expected to rise 0.7 percent, according to the median estimate of 12 analysts in a Reuters survey. The forecasts ranged from a 0.1 percent drop to a 1.7 percent increase.

July's industrial production fell 0.3 percent compared with a year earlier, falling short of the 0.1 percent increase expected in the Reuters survey. Estimates for the output ranged from a 1.4 percent drop to a 1.2 percent rise.

Signs of a slowdown in Latin America's biggest economy, combined with a dimmer outlook for global growth point, to the end of the central bank's recent tightening cycle, which has lifted the benchmark Selic interest rate to a 30-month high.

 

Copyright Reuters, 2011

 

Comments

Comments are closed.