HispanicBusiness

Brazil's economy will get better in 2013 after a sluggish growth this year, President Dilma Rousseff said Thursday.

"There will be a better environment in 2013, which will be favorable to Brazil. But we are an economy which can already walk with its own feet," she said.

Brazil's central bank on Dec. 20 cut its gross domestic product growth forecast for 2012 from 1.6 percent to 1 percent. However, Finance Minister Guido Mantega this month expected Latin America's biggest economy to grow at around 4 percent in 2013.

The government was taking measures to achieve a sustainable growth, including tax cuts and actions to boost the competitiveness of the Brazilian industry, said Rousseff.

Early this month, the government said electricity rates would be slashed by 16.7 percent in 2013 to improve industrial competitiveness. It has also eased social charges in various sectors, reduced taxes on cars and home appliances, and continued to invest in infrastructure, energy and transportation. The annual basic interest rate fell to a record low of 7.25 percent this year.

Meanwhile, the president also said the country needs reforms in its tax structure.

"Brazil needs a more rational tax structure. If we are one of the world's biggest economies, we must have a more competitive tax structure as well," she said.