Brasília – The primary surplus of the consolidated public sector – federal, state and municipal governments and state-owned companies – was R$ 5.681 billion (US$ 2.6 bn) in May, according to figures disclosed on Friday (28) by the Central Bank (BC). The primary surplus is the savings the government makes to service the public debt. The result for May is the highest for the month since 2011 (R$ 7.5 billion – US$ 3.4 billion).
In May last year, the result was lower: R$ 2.653 billion (US$ 1.2 billion). But there was a reduction as against April this year, when the primary surplus was R$ 10.328 billion.
From January to May, the primary surplus totalled R$ 46.729 billion (US$ 21.3 billion), against R$ 62.865 billion (US$ 28.7 billion)in the same period in 2012. In the 12 months ending in April, the primary surplus was R$ 88.816 billion (US$ 40.5 billion), which corresponds to 1.95 % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the sum of goods and services produced in the country.
On the 12th, Finance minister Guido Mantega said that the government is engaged with the adjusted primary surplus target – savings for servicing of the public debt – of 2.3% of GDP.
*Translated by Mark Ament
