Brazil finance minister says recession now history

“The economic recession is a thing of the past,” said Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles Friday (May 12) at a cabinet meeting on Temer's now one year long administration. The assembly was held at the Planalto presidential palace, in Brasília.

“Brazil is experiencing a moment and a government of deep changes. We found a country that went through the biggest recession in history. The recession we found was worse than those of 1930 and 1931,” he argued. Meirelles went on to note that the recession was over and that Brazil has shown signs of growth recovery. The minister mentioned the 20% increase in consumption, in the production of steel—also 20%—and the grain crop, which, he says, “surpassed the most optimistic [data],” with the 22% increase from last year.

However, “unemployment is still likely to grow, as it responds more slowly [to the economic recovery],” Meirelles added.

The minister also mentioned the lower inflation—9.28% in the 12-month period ending in May, 2016, compared to 4.08% this year, therefore below the 4.5% target.

*Pedro Peduzzi, Débora Brito, and Karine Melo contributed to this article.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira