Brasília – The trade surplus of Brazil (the difference between exports and imports) reached US$ 547 million in the first week of May, as a result of exports of US$ 2.923 billion and imports of US$ 2.376 billion. This information was supplied by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
In the accumulated result for the year, the trade balance surplus is US$ 7.269 billion, 68.1% more than the value registered from January to the first week of May 2008 (US$ 4.324 billion). Exports totalled US$ 46.422 billion and imports, US$ 39.153 billion from January to the first week of May this year.
In April, the trade balance surplus, which reached US$ 3.712 billion, was the greatest since May last year. According to the Foreign Trade Secretary at the ministry, Welber Barral, exports are still lower than in the period prior to the international financial crisis, which began in September last year, "but shows a tendency for recovery, while in the case of imports, the tendency is for reduction."
*Translated by Mark Ament
