Brasília – The consolidated Brazilian primary public sector surplus, i.e. revenues minus expenses, not including debt interest, (federal government, states, municipalities and state-owned enterprises) reached 10.442 billion reals (US$ 5.5 billion) in March, according to figures issued this Friday (27th) by the Central Bank. The result was lower than in the same month of last year – 13.6 billion reals (US$ 7.2 billion).
In the first quarter, the primary surplus reached 45.972 billion reals (US$ 24.3 billion), as against 39.262 billion reals (US$ 20.8 billion) in the first quarter of 2011. In the 12-month period ended March, the surplus reached 135.421 billion reals (US$ 71.8 billion), a figure equivalent to 3.22% of all the country produced. The primary public sector surplus target for this year is 139.8 billion reals (US$ 74.1 billion).
However, the fiscal efforts of the public sector were not enough to make up for spending on nominal interest charged on the debt. Interest payments reached 21.037 billion reals (US$ 11.1 billion) in March, and 58.968 billion reals (US$ 31.2 billion) in the first quarter.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
