Brazilian GDP Continues Decline With 0.6% Fall in Q2 2016

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Brazil declined 0.6 percent in the second quarter of 2016, continuing its two-year decline, according to a new report.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Brazil's economy contracted 0.6 percent in the second quarter of 2016, continuing its two-year decline, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said Wednesday.

"In the seasonally-adjusted series, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined (-0.6%) in the comparison between the second quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of the year. Compared with the same period in 2015, the GDP also changed negatively (-3.8%)," IBGE said in its quarterly national report.

Most of the decline was due to a 2-percent fall in the agricultural sector and a 2.1-percernt fall in services, while industrial GDP fell 0.2 percent.

Investment, however, was up 0.4 percent in the first rise since 2013, according to the report.

Brazil's economy has been facing growing problems with a shrinking GDP, a rising budget deficit and increasing unemployment. Brazil's year-on-year GDP growth rate fell to —5.4 percent in the first quarter of 2016 after hitting —5.9 percent in late 2015, which is the worst figure in decades.