Antônio Delfim Netto, known as the architect of Brazil's "economic miracle", died on Monday at the age of 96.

The economist's office said he died after a week in hospital "due to complications in his health condition".

Delfim Netto was born in 1928 in the city of São Paulo and grew up in the then working-class neighbourhood of Cambuci, where his mother was a seamstress and his father a municipal transport employee.

He later became one of the country's longest-serving finance ministers, holding the position between 1967 and 1974 and later serving as planning minister from 1979-1985 — years when Brazil was under military rule.

During his time as finance minister for the military government, when the policy focus was on heavy public spending, the South American country grew rapidly.

It hit a record 14.4 per cent GDP expansion in 1974 in what was called the Brazilian "economic miracle".

Later, as planning minister in the early 1980s, Delfim Netto helped his country cope with a global financial meltdown.

At the time, an oil price shock and high US interest rates triggered a debt crisis for developing countries like Brazil.

After civilian rule was restored in 1985, Delfim Netto was elected to the lower chamber of Congress five times and remained an influential figure in economic and political circles, publishing his views in frequent newspaper columns.

He advised leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on economic policy during his first two presidential terms.

In 2022, he said he would vote for Mr Lula in the election race against far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Reuters