Reuters: US Dollar Report: UPDATE 1-Brazil posts largest Feb primary surplus on record

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UPDATE 1-Brazil posts largest Feb primary surplus on record Mar 30th 2012, 13:53 Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:53am EDT * Primary surplus equals 3.3 pct of GDP in 12 months to Feb * Govt posted overall budget deficit of 8.755 bln reais By Alonso Soto BRASÍLIA, March 30 (Reuters) - Brazil posted in February the largest primary budget surplus on record for the month, the central bank said on Friday, underscoring the government's efforts to rein in public spending and pave the way for lower interest rates. Brazil posted a consolidated primary budget surplus of 9.514 billion reais ($5.2 billion) in February. This was the largest surplus for the month since 2001, when the current data series began. In the 12 months through February, the primary surplus, which excludes debt servicing costs, was equivalent to 3.3 percent of gross domestic product, unchanged from January. President Dilma Rousseff has vowed to freeze 55 billion reais in spending this year to keep tabs on inflation and help the central bank cut interest rates. Rousseff, a career economist, faces the challenge of maintaining fiscal austerity while boosting investment to add momentum to a sluggish recovery in Latin America's top economy. The country posted an overall budget deficit of 8.755 billion reais, taking into account interest payments. In January, the overall budget balance reached a surplus of 6.35 billion reais - the first surplus since September 2010. As a percentage of GDP, the overall deficit in the 12 months through February declined to 2.34 percent from 2.41 percent in January. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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