Brazil's economy grew at a 0.24% rate in February, compared to the previous month, the Central Bank said Wednesday. The Central Bank's Index of Economic Activity indicates that the economy grew 1.63% in February, compared to February 2013, while year-on-year growth was 2.41%, up from the 2.29% figure reported in the previous month.

The IBC-Br index is used as a preview of the GDP number, which is released quarterly, but the Central Bank indicator is not as broad and tends to overestimate economic growth on the upside.

Brazil's GDP grew 2.3% in 2013, while the IBC-Br index showed economic growth of 2.5%.

The government expects Brazil's GDP to expand by 2.5% this year, but financial analysts surveyed by the Central Bank are forecasting just 1.65% growth. The International Monetary Fund last week predicted a 2.7% rate of growth in 2015 for Brazil.

An optimistic president of the Central Bank, Alexandre Tombini stated on Wednesday that exchange rate flexibility and tighter monetary and fiscal policies have helped the Brazilian economy weather the transition of the global economy.

MercoPress