The primary surplus – which represents money saved by the federal government to repay debt interest – totaled US$ 23.062 billion (R$ 52.7 billion) between January and September.
This amount corresponds to 3.71% of all the wealth produced by the country this year – the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This result is superior to last year’s for the same period, in which the government made a fiscal adjustment equivalent to 3.54% of the GDP.
The goal for this year’s primary surplus is 4.25%. These figures were announced Thursday, October 27, by the secretary of the Treasury, Joaquim Levy.
In August, the primary surplus was insufficient to cover interest expenses. The adjustment made by the government was US$ 1.969 billion (R$ 4.5 billion). But interest expenses amounting to US$ 5.251 billion (R$ 12 billion) resulted in a deficit of US$ 3.282 billion (R$ 7.5 billion).
Regarding the result between January and September, Levy thinks that "it does not present any exceptional feature." In his view, what is important now is to pay attention to the results for the coming quarter.
"The current target is only for the end of the year. I believe that a convergence will occur in these three months. My expectation is for there to be a deficit in the months of October, November, and December."
Agência Brasil