BRAZIL: Primary Deficit Rises To R$ 25.135 Billion In March

(RTTNews) - The Brazilian public sector primary deficit more than doubled in March from a year before, to R$ 25.135 billion, according to central bank data. Compared to February, the primary sector deficit rose 44.3%, from R$ 17.414 billion.

In the first quarter, the Brazilian primary sector result was a R$ 4.391 billion surplus, or 0.27% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the period. In the first three months of 2017, the country's primary surplus totaled R$ 2.197 billion, or 0.14% of the GDP.

The central government primary deficit reached R$ 25.531 billion in March, from R$ 11.686 billion a year before and R$ 19.005 billion in February.

Local governments posted a R$ 552 million primary surplus in March, while state-owned companies - excluding Petrobras and Eletrobras - had a R$ 156 million deficit.

Public sector net debt totaled R$ 3.463 trillion at the end of March, the equivalent of 52.3% of the GDP. Gross debt reached R$ 4.984 trillion, or 75.3% of the GDP.