Brasília – Brazil’s consolidated public sector – encompassing the federal government, state governments and municipalities and state-owned companies – recorded a primary deficit of R$ 8.1 billion (US$ 3 billion) in November. It was the poorest result for the month of November ever since the Central Bank began to keep records in 2001. The result has been disclosed by the monetary authority this Monday (29th).
The federal government incurred a R$ 6.7 billion (US$ 2.5 billion) deficit in November, and regional governments posted a combined R$ 1.8 billion (US$ 674.4 million) deficit, while state-owned companies ran a surplus of R$ 368 million (US$ 137 million).
Year-to-date, the primary deficit stands at R$ 19.6 billion (US$ 7.3 billion), against an R$ 80.9 billion (US$ 30.3 billion) surplus in the comparable period of 2013. In the 12 month period leading up to November, a primary deficit of R$ 9.2 billion (US$ 3.4 billion) was recorded, equivalent to 0.18% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); a R$ 28.6 billion surplus (US$ 10.7 billion, 0.56% of GDP) was seen in October.
The joint chief of the Central Bank’s Economic Department, Fernando Rocha, has listed a few causes for the poor performance. “The budget results stem primarily from the fact that economic activity was more moderate this year than in 2013, causing tax revenues and government collection to diminish,” Rocha said.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
