The Brazilian central bank has reduced its forecast of the annual rate of growth in gross domestic product this year to 1.6 percent from 2.6 percent, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency quotes a document issued by the central bank as saying the reduction is due to “the cooling of economic activity at the start of this year”.

In contrast, the latest forecast of economic growth given by the Brazilian government is 2.5 percent.

The report says the Brazilian central bank has increased its forecast of the annual rate of consumer price inflation this year to 4.2 percent from 3.8 percent.

The central bank attributes the increase to a national strike by truck drivers last month, which caused shortages of food, Xinhua says.