国际英语新闻：Brazil reports highest quarterly GDP growth since 1995

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's gross domestic product reached 826.4 billion reais (441.45 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2010, up 9 percent year-on-year.

Releasing the figure on Tuesday, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said it was the country's highest quarterly GDP growth since the institute started reporting GDP figures in 1995.

It also marked GDP expansion for four consecutive quarters, and sent a clear signal that the Brazilian economy's recovery from the international financial crisis has been consolidated.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described the growth as "exuberant."

"We are living in a golden moment in the country. It is an astounding growth. I think Brazil deserved and needed that," he said.

The president said Brazil was the last country to start suffering from the effects of the global financial crisis, and the first to overcome the turmoil.

The sharp growth can be attributed mainly to the industrial sector, whose GDP increased by 4.2 percent from the previous quarter and 14.6 percent from the same period last year, totaling 180.3 billion reais (96.31 billion dollars).