The IPEA report coincides with Brazil's National Industry Confederation, CNI that also reviewed percentages upwards. CNI points out that domestic demand is playing a pivotal role in the current expansion of the Brazilian economy.
Brazil's Central Bank reported that foreign direct investment reached US$ 33.7 billion in the first eleven months of the year, which represents a 106% hike over the same period a year ago. The sum was described "as the highest ever in the country's history".
But the bank also revealed a wider-than-expected current account deficit in November, reversing a surplus in external accounts a year earlier as the trade surplus fell and companies boosted profit remittances abroad.
The deficit reached US$ 1.3 billion in November compared with a surplus of US$ 1.39 billion in the same month a year ago, the Central Bank said. In October, Brazil had current account deficit of US$ 42 million, the central bank reported last month.
In the 12 months through November, Brazil posted a current account surplus equal to 0.37% of gross domestic product, GDP, compared with 0.6% in the 12-month period through October.
For 2008, the central bank forecast a current account deficit of US$ 3.5 billion, the first deficit in the external accounts since 2002. The bank estimates foreign direct investment of 28 billion.
The current account balance tracks a country's net flow of external transactions, including foreign trade, interest payments and services such as tourism.
Mercopress