Brazil’s economic activity expands 1.14 pct. in first 9 months of 2018

Brazil’s economic activity expanded 1.14 percent over the first nine months of 2018 and increased at a faster-than-expected annual clip of 1.74 percent in the third quarter, the Central Bank said Friday.

Those figures come from the Central Bank’s Economic Activity Index (IBC-Br), which is used as a preview of the gross domestic product (GDP) number.

Private-sector economists expect Brazil’s GDP to grow about 1.36 percent this year, roughly in line with the Central Bank’s forecast for 1.4 percent growth.

Brazil’s monetary authority has revised its 2018 growth forecast downward on several occasions.

South America’s largest economy grew a tepid 1 percent in 2017 following a two-year recession that saw the country’s GDP contract by 7 percent.