Brazil's Sluggish Economic Growth

Latin America's largest economy grew a mere 2.7% in 2011, far below the 4.5% GDP growth rate predicted by analysts.  Last summer, when President Rousseff declared an official goal of 4% GDP growth in 2012, it seemed attainable.  However, after a sluggish year in 2011, it is evident that the Brazilian government will have to work to creatively stimulate the economy to achieve the growth goals. The country's interest rates have served as a major obstacle to growth, and the Central Bank predicted that it would cut interest rates to 10.5% to stimulate the economy.  However, after meeting yesterday and being presented with lower-than-expected data, the Central Bank president Alexandre Tombini decided to make even more drastic cuts, lowering the interest rate to 9.75%. In the past, Brazil has avoided lowering the interest rate because of inflation concerns, but the country leaders hope that the lower interest rate will stimulate growth and foreign investment.

Read it here at CNN.