Brazil´s recession worst in country´s history: GDP figures

An old woman shopping for orangers at a street market in Rio. Photo: Reuters/file

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil´s recession hit the two year mark, becoming the worst in the country´s history, after Latin America´s biggest economy registered an eighth consecutive quarter of shrinkage, GDP figures showed on Tuesday.

The government statistics office said the economy shrank 0.9% in the last three months of 2016. That meant an overall dip of 3.6% in 2016, following a 3.8% fall in 2015.

This is the deepest decline since records began.

Brazil has been shaken by a slump in prices for its oil, soy, metals and other commodity exports, as well as political instability and a huge corruption scandal.

Unemployment is at 12.6%, amounting to around 13 million people out of work.

The political leadership has been in crisis since last year when president Dilma Rousseff was impeached for illegally manipulating government accounts, while several high ranking allies of her successor President Michel Temer are now mired in a sprawling graft probe.

The embezzlement and bribery scandal -- which is due to pick up pace soon with the expected release of damaging testimony against senior political figures -- is slowing down Temer´s attempt to pass economic reforms in Congress.