Brasília – The Brazilian balance of payments posted a US$ 808 million surplus last month, according to the External Sector Report (Relatório do Setor Externo) issued this Tuesday (25th) by the Central Bank’s Economic Department. Current transactions showed a US$ 2.2 billion deficit, yet the trade balance ran a US$ 3.1 billion surplus.
Once again, the services account showed a strong deficit, at US$ 3.1 billion, albeit slightly lower than the preceding month’s US$ 3.4 billion deficit, and 5.1% lower than in September 2010, discounting inflation during the period. The main contributing factor to the deficit was international travel spending, which amounted to US$ 1.256 billion, nearly as much as in August, when spending reached US$ 1.297 billion.
The lowering of travel spending stems from the fact that spending by foreigners in transit in Brazil increased by 14.6% in September as against the same month of last year, whereas spending by Brazilians abroad increased by a lower rate (12.4%) using the same basis of comparison. Net spending on transport abroad stood at US$ 753 million (an 11.9% increase) and spending on equipment rental stood at US$ 1.381 billion (a 2.8% increase).
According to the Central Bank, the Brazilian financial account recorded a net inflow of US$ 2.9 billion, resulting from the inflow of US$ 6.3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), minus US$ 2 billion in long-term loans and US$ 2.4 billion in net amortization of short-term loans.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
