| Brazil's first-quarter growth hit by lacklustre consumer spending | Brazil's economy missed first-quarter growth forecasts as the country's once spendthrift consumers turned more cautious. Gross domestic product in Latin America's largest economy grew 0.6 per cent compared with the previous three months, or 1.9 per cent year on year, compared with a Bloomberg analyst poll that had predicted 0.9 per cent growth against the earlier quarter.
"The overall activity picture was even weaker than what the headline growth figure suggests as it shows softening growth in the service sector and a significant loss of forward momentum in private consumption," said Alberto Ramos, economist at Goldman Sachs.
http://link.ft.com/r/M2ZOXX/YGWB94/C51OYF/ORQ0UN/7ZP4FA/W1/h?a1=2013&a2=5&a3=29
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