The Brazilian finance minister, Guido Mantega, has announced a downward review of the expected rate of growth for the Brazilian economy in 2013 to 2.5 percent, which is one percentage point lower than the previous government projection.

Speaking to TV channel Globonews, the minister explained the review based on Brazil “exporting less because there is a global crisis and international markets are at a standstill.”

Mantega also said that Brazil was facing additional difficulties from the depreciation of its currency, the real, which since January has fallen by 20 percent against the US dollar, but said he was confident in the country’s ability to reverse that situation to prevent an even greater impact on the price of goods that depend on imported components.

The Brazilian government’s projections for economic growth in 2013 have been falling since the beginning of the year, when the projection stood at 4 percent, which was later revised downward to 3.5 percent. (macauhub)