Haddad celebrates GDP and estimates improvement in industry in 2024

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, celebrated this Friday (1st) the result of Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Earlier, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) announced that GDP grew 2.9% in 2023, with a total value of R$10.9 trillion. In 2022, the growth rate had been 3%.

“GDP came in well above what we expected. We expected more than 2% at the beginning of last year and we almost reached 3% growth”, the minister told journalists in São Paulo. “Closing at 2.9% is very positive for Brazil,” he added. GDP expansion in the year was driven by a 15.1% increase in the agricultural sector, industry (1.6%) and services (2.4%).

Haddad highlighted that it is necessary to create a better environment to strengthen investment in the country. “Last year, it was not investment that drove growth. It was the agricultural sector, household consumption, government consumption and exports. But investment was the variable that least accompanied this evolution. And now we want to create a necessary environment for businesspeople to invest, because it is this investment that improves the conditions of the economy”, argued the minister.

According to Haddad, the government’s expectation is that, in 2024, growth will be 2.2%, reported the Brazil Agency. “If inflation continues to behave, monetary policy adjusts and, with the effort that the Treasury has made with Congress, I believe that – from the second or third quarter of this year – things will start to improve well. And structurally,” he said.

In this scenario, he estimates that there will be an improvement for the industrial sector in 2024. “We project an improvement in the industry for this year. There are consistent signs that there will be improvement and I think it will also be driven by investment. I believe we are going to have a good year for the industry. And I really believe in civil construction, which has everything to take off this year”, stated the minister.