BRAZIL: 1Q18 GDP Rises 0.4% From The 4Q17 And Beats Market Estimate

(RTTNews) - Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 0.4% in the first quarter of 2017, from 0.2% in the final quarter of 2017, according to the national statistics office (IBGE). It was the fifth consecutive quarter of growth. Analysts expected a 0.3% increase.

Compared to the first quarter of 2018, the Brazilian GDP rose 1.2%, slowing down from the last quarter of 2017, when the annual growth rate was at 2.1%. Analysts expected a 1.3% growth.

The Brazilian economic output annual increase was a result of more intense activity in the retail (+4.5%) and manufacturing (+4.0%) sectors.

The agricultural sector, however, had a 2.6% decrease in its output and weighed on the first quarter results, affected by a lower crop production. Besides that, in 2017 Brazil had a record output for some crops, and that added to the negative annual performance.