BRASILIA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's central bank kept its forecast gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 2.4 percent for 2019, according to the quarterly inflation report released Thursday.
The bank trimmed the GDP growth estimate for 2018 from 1.4 to 1.3 percent.
The 2019 projection is in line with the continuing gradual recovery in economic activities, the bank said.
The growth in the agricultural and industrial sectors is estimated to remain steady at 2 and 2.9 percent respectively.
An increase from 2 to 2.1 percent was forecast in the commerce and services sectors.
In terms of household consumption, the bank estimated an increase of 2.5 percent, while the Gross Fixed Capital Formation (investments) will rise 4.4 percent, similar to previous forecasts.
The growth forecast for government consumption was modified from 0.5 to 0.6 percent.
The forecast for exports growth dropped from 6 to 5.7 percent in the face of a possible slowdown in the world economy, while the forecast for import growth went up from 5.9 to 6.1 percent.
On the same day, Brazil's Institute for Applied Economic Research announced an estimate of 2.7 percent for 2019 GDP growth, and also 1.3 percent for growth in 2018, which is much below projections made in the beginning of this year.
According to the institute, the Brazilian economy's current scenario reflects shocks and uncertainties which impacted economic activity and financial markets.
Fiscal matters remain Brazil's most pressing issue, trapping it in low growth rates, it added.
