BRASILIA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Economic activity in Brazil picked up 1.29 percent in September month-on-month, marking the fifth month of recovery since plunging due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Central Bank of Brazil said Friday.
However, the central bank's Economic Activity Index (IBC-Br) shows activity dipped 0.77 percent in September year-on-year.
According to the bank's forecast, Brazil's economy grew 9.47 percent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter.
In the first nine months of the year, economic activity accumulated a 4.93 percent drop, while in the 12 months ending in September, activity dropped 3.32 percent.
Experts warn the IBC-Br should not be taken at face value, because bank projections don't always end up coinciding with the official figures released by the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE).
Financial market analysts expect Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to contract 4.8 percent in 2020, after the economy grew 1.1 percent in 2019, its weakest growth in three years. Enditem
