Brazil’s Finance Minister says the worst is over for the country’s economy, which has been in recession for two years, with the government forecasting growth in the first quarter.

The Reuters news agency cites an interview published in the O Estado de São Paulo newspaper on Monday with Mr Henrique Meirelles.

Mr Meirelles said last week’s interest rate cut would also help the recovery. The Banco Central do Brasil cut the benchmark SELIC rate by 75 basis points to 13 percent.

The central bank says the cut will not affect inflation. “This decision would contribute to the stabilisation process and subsequent recovery of economic activity, without leading to a deviation from the objective of bringing inflation to the 4.5-percent target in 2017 and 2018,” the bank said in a statement.

Annual data is expected to show the economy contracted by more than 3 percent last year, after shrinking by 3.8 percent in 2015.