Brazil Lula says economy will still grow in 2009
Reuters, Mar 16, 2009
NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday Latin America's largest economy will still grow this year, although at lower rates, as the government maintains investment and stimulates domestic consumption.
"We will grow in 2009 less than what we would like, less than we could grow if there was no external crisis. But we will grow," Lula told an investor conference in New York.
Economists have been slashing their estimates for Brazil's growth in 2009, with banks such as Morgan Stanley betting on a staggering 4.5 percent economic slump.
But Lula said the government will keep encouraging "responsible" domestic consumption, while making necessary investments even as revenues fall.
"I will not cut one cent from social spending, nor infrastructure investment," he said, adding that such measures will ensure a quick recovery in industrial output and the maintenance of current employment levels.