Brazil expects almost 0% growth in 2020 due to virus: government

Brazil's government on Friday drastically downgraded its growth projections for 2020 by 2.1 per cent to practically zero (0.02 per cent) due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Economy Ministry had already dropped its expectations from 2.4 to 2.1 per cent on March 11 in a first re-evaluation based on the impact of the deadly virus.

The new projection leaves Brazil on the verge of its first recession since 2015-16.