Brasília – Brazil current account has registered a surplus for the third consecutive month. In May, the current account surplus was USD 729 million, way below the one seen in the same month of 2017, of USD 2.751 billion. The data was released this Monday (25) by the Brazilian Central Bank (picture above).
In the year’s first five months, the country’s current account had a deficit of USD 4.022 billion, against a deficit of USD 744 million in the same period of 2017.
The country registered a trade surplus of USD 5.558 billion last month and of USD 21.972 billion from January to May. The services account had a deficit of USD 2.733 billion in May and of USD 13.623 billion in the year’s first five months.
The primary income account had a USD 2.335 billion deficit in the month and of USD 13.431 billion year-to-date. The secondary income account had a surplus of USD 239 million in the month and of USD 1.061 billion from January to May.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country reached USD 2.978 billion in May and USD 23.344 billion year-to-date. In both cases, the amounts are more than enough to cover the current account deficit.
Travel expenses
Even with the dollar appreciation against the real, Brazilians’ spending in international travelling continued to grow. In May, these expenditures reached USD 1.615 billion, the highest amount for the month of May since May 2014. From January to May, these expenditures reached USD 8.086 billion, against USD 7.295 billion in the same period of 2017.
Meanwhile, spending by foreigners in Brazil reached USD 429 million in May and USD 2.862 billion in 2018’s first five months.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
