Brazil could have zero growth in Q3

Brazil's economic growth could be zero in the third quarter, the deputy finance minister said Tuesday. "We must have slower growth in the third quarter, which could be zero" when compared with the previous three months, Nelson Barbosa told reporters. Official GDP figures for the third quarter will be released in December. In the second quarter, GDP rose 0.8 percent compared with the previous one. Barbosa, meanwhile, said the government expects the GDP to reach between four and five percent next year, higher than market forecasts of 3.5 percent. He said an increase in the minimum wage, tax rebates, industry incentives as well a cut in interest rates should help revive the economy next year. Separately, the Central Bank said Tuesday that the country attracted $56 billion (41 billion euros) in direct foreign investment in the first 10 months of this year, exceeding the record set in 2010. Last year, the country pulled in $48.4 billion. In October, Brazil received $5.5 billion in direct investment, which remained strong despite the domestic economic slowdown and the international crisis. The current account deficit reached $39.09 billion between January and October, a figure virtually unchanged from the same period last year and equivalent to 1.9 percent of GDP. The Central Bank said in October the country's foreign exchange reserves totaled $352.9 billion, up $3.2 billion from the previous month while its foreign debt amounted to $297.6 billion, unchanged from September.