Brazil's financial market upgrades 2022 growth forecast to 2.39 pct

Brasília (Brazil), September 13: Brazilian financial analysts upgraded their gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2022 from 2.26 percent to 2.39 percent, and for 2023 from 0.47 percent to 0.50 percent, the Central Bank of Brazil said Monday.
According to the bank's weekly Focus survey of the country's leading financial institutions, the economic growth forecast rose for the 11th week in a row after starting the year at just 0.28 percent.
Forecast inflation dipped again this week, from 6.61 percent to 6.40 percent in 2022, and from 5.27 percent to 5.17 percent in 2023.
The official inflation target is 3.5 percent for 2022 and 3.25 percent for 2023, with a margin of tolerance of 1.5 percentage points in both cases.
Regarding the benchmark interest rate, currently at 13.75 percent annually, economists said they expected it to remain unchanged until the end of the year and then gradually decrease to close at 11.25 percent in 2023.
Analysts also revised their exchange forecast for Brazil's currency, which currently trades at 5.12 reals to the U.S. dollar, to 5.20 reals per U.S. dollar at the end of this year and 2023.
Meanwhile, Brazil's trade surplus is expected to reach 66.92 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 and 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.
Economists also estimated foreign direct investment to register 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 and 66 billion U.S. dollars next year.
Source: Xinhua