BRAZIL GDP GROWTH SPEEDS UP TO 1.8% IN 3RD QUARTER OF 2008

Forbes.com, December 2008

SAO PAULO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Brazil's economic growth unexpectedly accelerated to 1.8 percent in the third quarter from the second, the government said on Tuesday, as the country showed signs of resisting the global downturn.

The expansion of the gross domestic product was faster than the 1.6 percent expansion in the second quarter from the first, the government's statistics agency IBGE said.

GDP had been expected to grow 1.2 percent in the third quarter, according to a median forecast of 17 economists polled by Reuters. Estimates ranged from 0.4 percent to 1.4 percent growth.

On an annual basis, GDP expanded a robust 6.8 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period in 2007 , after posting a revised year-on-year growth of 6.2 percent in the second quarter.

The result was stronger than the the 5.6 percent year-on-year GDP median growth forecast in the Reuters poll. Estimates ranged from 4.2 percent to 6.0 percent.