Brasília – The strong US dollar led spending by Brazilian tourists on international trips to decline in November from October. The Central Bank reported this Tuesday (20) that international travel expenditure reached USD 1.204 billion last month, the lowest amount since USD 1.113 billion in May.
Overseas spending reached an yearly peak in October at USD 1.421 billion. However, expenses in November were higher than in November 2015, which saw Brazilian travellers spend USD 971.4 million abroad.
The US dollar climbed from BRL 3.35 to BRL 3.57 last month, buoyed by Donald Trump’s election for president of the United States and by expectations of an interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve (Fed), which proved true at the US monetary authority’s meeting last week.
The drop in overseas spending and oil rig exports from Brazil last month helped improve the country’s current account results. A USD 878 million deficit was recorded in November, down from a USD 3.339 billion deficit in October and a USD 2.948 billion deficit in November 2015.
The Central Bank’s Economic Department chief Tulio Maciel said that the biggest contribution came from oil rig exports, which widened the trade surplus to USD 4.516 billion last month. As a result, he said, the November deficit was less than the Central Bank’s own prior USD 1.7 billion forecast.
In the 12 months ended November, the Brazilian current account deficit was USD 20.261 billion, tantamount to 1.12% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The comparable period of last year had seen a USD 68.063 billion deficit, at 3.67% of GDP.
Foreign direct investment reached USD 8.752 billion in November. According to Maciel, the amount exceeded the Central Bank’s USD 6.5 billion forecast for last month. Year-to-date through November, FDI amounted to USD 63.657 billion, up from USD 59.864 billion in the same months of last year. The amount is more than enough to cover the current account deficit.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
