Gumii Paarlaamaa Oromoo (GPO)

Oromo Parliamentarians Council (OPC)

An economic research group says Brazil has overtaken Britain as the world's sixth largest economy.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) says its latest World Economic League Table shows Asian countries moving up and European countries falling back.

The United States is the largest economy, followed by China, Japan, Germany, France and Brazil, with the UK seventh on the table.

Brazil's economy grew by 7.5% last year, but the government has cut its growth forecast for 2011 to 3.5% after the economy ground to a halt in the third quarter, the BBC reports.

Analysts blamed the country's high interest rates and the worsening situation in the eurozone for the slowdown.

The research group said the eurozone economy would shrink 0.6% in 2012 if the euro problem is solved - or 2% if it is not.

It also predicts the British economy will overtake France by 2016 and that Russia and India will be in the top five economies by 2020.

Brazil, Russia, India and China (Bric) are booming whilst many other countries are struggling economically, or even crashing. United by pragmatism, realism, and indifference to Western dominance, Bric aims to chart its own course in the world.

Considering that they already make up 40 per cent of the worlds population, 26 per cent of its territory, and over 15 per cent of its GDP, it might already be time to pause and pay attention.

Source: aljazeera.com