BRASILIA: The Brazilian economy is expected to grow 3.5 percent this year, up from 2.7 percent in 2011 while inflation will be around 4.4 percent, according to central bank projections released Thursday.
The 2012 projections are lower than those from the finance ministry which is forecasting gross domestic product growth of 4.5 percent and consumer prices rising 4.5 percent.
The bank also anticipates low growth "for a prolonged period" for the global economy due to the impact of higher oil prices on the United States and a delayed end to the eurozone debt crisis.
Last year, Latin America's biggest economy, now the world's sixth largest, grew a modest 2.7 percent, largely due to the global slowdown, after a blistering 7.5 percent expansion in 2010.
The central bank said a stable real (1.75 to the dollars) and interest rates expected to remain at the current 9.75 percent should bring inflation down to 4.4 percent.
Brazil closed 2011 with inflation at 6.5 percent, the upper limit of the official target.
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