Brazil's Lula bets on agriculture to drive higher growth in 2025

(Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday that growth in the agriculture sector may allow Latin America's largest economy to defy current projections and expand this year more than in 2024, when it notched growth of 3.4%.

Lula's optimistic remarks diverge from his own government's forecast, as the Finance Ministry sees Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowing to 2.4% in 2025 amid tight monetary conditions.

The comments followed the publication of Brazil's first-quarter GDP figures last week, which showed year-on-year growth of 2.9% fueled by a jump in agricultural activity thanks to a bumper harvest of soybeans, the country's top farm export.

The South American country is the world's largest exporter of soy, coffee, cotton, sugar, beef and chicken, as well as a top supplier of corn and pork.

"Our first-quarter growth demonstrates that we can once again surprise the world and grow above the global average," Lula told an event in Paris, where the country was recognized as free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination.

"If last year we grew 3.4% with agriculture not expanding as much as we expected, I think agriculture growth this year can allow us to think about growing a bit more," the leftist leader added.

Private economists polled on a weekly basis by the central bank expect Brazil's GDP to grow 2.13% this year.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Lisandra Paraguassu. Editing by Jane Merriman)

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