Brazil’s public sector registered in April the best monthly primary surplus since the beginning of the series’ publication, in 1991.
The report released today by the Central Bank reveals that the surplus was of US$ 6.861 billion in April, 33% more than in March.
In March, the surplus was of US$ 5.148 billion, value that had already been considered to be very good by the government.
The result in April was increased basically by the government’s balance, which contributed with a surplus of US$ 6.009 billion, while the states and cities registered US$ 759.345 million and the state owned companies had US$ 91.978 million.
As was explained by the head of the Economic Department at the Central Bank, Altamir Lopes, the surplus accumulated during the first four months of the year increased to US$ 18.485 billion, which corresponds to 7.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to Lopes, the position is very comfortable, considering that the aim for the primary surplus for the period was of US$ 15.036 billion, or 5.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP – sum of all the riches produced by the country).
In relation to the flow accumulated in the last 12 months, the primary surplus adds up to US$ 38.933 billion, or 5% of the GDP; it is above, therefore, of the aim of 4.25% for this and next year’s surplus.
IMF Forecast
The Latin American economy is going to grow 4.4% this year, according to projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The declaration was made today by the managing director of the organization, Rodrigo de Rato.
Last year, the Latin American economy grew 5.5%, the best performance in ten years. The previous IMF forecast for 2005 was growth of 4.1% for the region’s economy.
Abr