Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff expressed optimism about the country's economy next year, saying she expected a 5-percent growth rate.
"My goal is 5 percent," Rousseff said. "I have optimistic expectations."
Thanks to the government's anti-crisis measures, Brazil managed to get out of the economic trouble in the face of a worrisome global slowdown in 2011, she added.
Finance Minister Guido Mantega was also optimistic about the Brazilian economy in 2012. Last week, he said the country's gross domestic product (GDP) would grow 4 to 5 percent next year.
The projection is much higher than the one made by the financial market. In a recent market survey, economists from Brazil's financial institutions projected a 3.4 percent growth rate.
Rousseff also said she believed the inflation rate for 2012 would remain under control.
In 2011, Brazil's inflation rate stood at 5.97 percent from January to November, getting close to the upper limit of the inflation target -- 4.5 percent with a tolerance of two percentage points.
Meanwhile, the country's GDP did not register any growth from the second to third quarter this year. From January to September, Brazil's GDP accumulated a 3.2 percent growth compared to the same period last year./.