BRAZIL: The Brazilian government lowers its growth prediction for this year to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent, but raised its inflation forecast to 9.7 percent from 7.9 percent.

In a report, the Ministry of Economy's Secretariat of Economic Policy stated that the lower GDP growth forecast and higher inflation were the result of a worsening international situation, owing in part to the energy crisis affecting some European countries and the breakdown of supply chains affecting demand and production.

The government also cut its economic growth forecasts for 2022, from 2.5 to 2.1 percent, and anticipated inflation from 3.75 to 4.7 percent. "The labour market recovery is strong enough to provide growth of more than 2 percent  (in both 2021 and 2022)," the Brazilian government said on Wednesday.

"We expect the participation rate and level of employment to return to historical levels as informal employment recovers, allowing the economy to grow at the predicted rate," it added. Brazil's GDP will expand 4.88 percent in 2021 and 0.93 percent in 2022, according to financial market predictions, while inflation will be 9.77 percent in 2021 and 4.79 percent in 2022.

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