BRASILIA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to drop by 8 to 10 percent in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the first quarter, the Brazilian Economy Ministry's Secretariat of Economic Policy said Tuesday.
The agency said in a report that if the forecast is confirmed, the decline will cause Latin America's largest economy to enter into a technical recession, following a 1.5-percent drop in GDP between January and March.
The official GDP results for the second quarter will be released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics on Sept. 1.
The GDP decline in the first half of 2020 "reflects the crisis caused by the interruption of trade and society's normal activities," the agency said.
For 2020, the government forecasts a 4.7-percent drop in GDP, while the financial market estimates a 5.52-percent contraction.
According to the report, Brazil has spent more, in terms of percentage of GDP, to tackle the COVID-19 crisis compared with other developing or even developed countries.
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