RIO DE JANEIRO, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Amid a two-year-long recession, Brazil's Central Bank announced on Thursday its decision to reduce the GDP growth projection for 2017 to 0.5 percent.
The estimates were published in the Central Bank's most recent Inflation Report.
Earlier this month, statistics agency IBGE announced a 3.6 percent fall in the Brazilian GDP in 2016, prompting the Central Bank to adjust this year's growth estimates accordingly.
The previous estimate, published in December, was of a 0.8 percent growth rate.
According to the Central Bank, Brazil's agricultural sector will grow by 6.4 percent this year. The figures were adjusted from four percent, which indicates an analysis that this year's crop production will be much more positive than that in 2016.
Due to a combination of factors, including bad weather conditions, which damaged crops, Brazil's agricultural sector shrank 6.6 percent last year.
Estimates for other sectors, on the other hand, were down: the tertiary sector is expected to grow 0.1 percent, down from 0.4 percent in the previous estimates, and the industrial sector is now expected to shrink 0.1 percent -- it was expected to grow 0.6 percent in the December projections.
After falling 4.2 percent in 2016, Brazilian families' consumption is expected to rise 0.5 percent this year.
According to the Central Bank, the positive estimates reflect the income rise and improvements in consumers' confidence indicators.
