Brazil 's booming economy continues to stoke domestic demand for fuels, the downstream director of energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, said Monday.

Demand for fuels, including diesel and gasoline, is expected to grow 12% in 2010 from a year earlier, Paulo Roberto Costa told reporters on the sidelines of the Rio Oil and Gas conference.

Brazil 's economy has bounced back sharply from the global financial and economic crisis, primarily thanks to strong demand from Asia for Brazil 's commodities and robust consumer demand within Brazil .

On Monday, financial market analysts and economists surveyed weekly by the central bank raised their expectations for gross domestic product to expand by 7.42% this year, up from their previous forecast of 7.34% growth. Estimates for 2011 were steady at 4.5%. Brazil 's GDP fell 0.2% last year.

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