Nothing "problematic" about Brazil's economy: official

Brazil's under-performing economy is fundamentally sound and is simply undergoing some "re-engineering," Finance Minister Joaquim Levy said Monday.

There is nothing "intrinsically problematic" about the economy that would prevent it from resuming growth, Levy was quoted as saying by Brazil's G1 news website.

Latin America's largest economy has solid foundations and will enter a new cycle of expansion following current belt-tightening measures, he told a business seminar in Sao Paulo.

"The country still has numerous advantages, such as our human capital. We are certain that we have the conditions to re-engineer the economy without major difficulties."

Human capital and increasing exports, coupled with Brazilians' capacity to save, would help drive a new cycle of growth, said Levy.

A weekly poll of financial analysts released Monday showed that the market expects Brazil's gross domestic product to contract 0.5 percent in 2015.

Still, Levy said he was confident the new fiscal measures will put the economy on the right track.

"Many new projects are becoming feasible (thanks to the measures) and that helps drive growth," said the finance chief. Endi