Brasília – Brazil’s federal, state and local governments ran a BRL 8.224 billion (USD 2.130 billion) primary deficit in May, the Brazilian Central Bank reported this Friday (29).
The primary deficit – revenue minus expenditure, excluding interest spending – was much narrower than May 2017’s BRL 30.736 billion (USD 7.962 billion) result. This year saw the best result for a May since BRL 6.9 billion (USD 1.7 billion) in 2015.
The head of the Central Bank’s Department of Statistics, Fernando Rocha, said court-ordered bond payments were made in March and April, to the tune of BRL 9.5 billion (USD 2.4 billion), unlike 2017, when said payments happened in May and June. “Even when ruling out these specific factors in May 2017 and 2018, the primary result has improved. This improvement stems from growing revenue and controlled spending,” said Rocha.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
