Foreign direct investments in Brazil totaled US$1.9 billion in January, down 60 percent from the US$4.8 billion registered during the same period last year, the country's Central Bank said on Friday.

According to the bank, the result was well below the expectation of US$2.5 billion and was the worst for a January in three years.

The drop showed the effects of the international financial crisis in the country, said Altamir Lopes, head of the bank's economic department.

"It is an effect of the crisis, without a doubt. We already expected a fall in the direct investments flow, but it is still a strong result," he said.

The bank is expecting foreign direct investments to reach US$1.8 billion this month.

The bank's forecast for foreign direct investments for 2009 is US$30 billion, down 33 percent from 2008, when the figure reached a record high of US$45 billion.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2009)