Agência Brasil*
Brasília – Exports totalled US$ 3,228 billion and imports, US$ 3,387 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$ 159 million in the first week of March. The data were supplied by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, which discloses the weekly trade balance results every Monday.
A negative result of US$ 81 million was recorded in the fourth week of February as well. This was the first trade deficit recorded ever since the third week of May 2002 (US$ 35 million).
In the accumulated result for the year, totalling 46 business days, the balance of trade maintained a surplus of US$ 1.667 billion (daily average of US$ 36.2 million), lower than recorded in the same period of 2007 (US$ 5.634 billion).
Exports totalled US$ 29.305 billion, at a daily average of US$ 637.1 million, and imports stood at US$ 27.638 billion, resulting in a daily average of US$ 677.4 million.
In 2007, up until the first week of March, imports did not follow the same pace and reached US$ 16.701 billion, whereas foreign sales stood at US$ 22.335 billion.
As imports are growing at a stronger rate than exports, market analysts have reduced their projection for the balance of trade from US$ 30 billion down to US$ 29 billion, according to the Focus bulletin, published today (10th) by the Brazilian Central Bank.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
