Brazil public sector posts highest primary surplus for January

The federal, state, and municipal governments started off the year with positive figures in public accounts. January's primary surplus stood at $11.9 billion against the $9.1 billion reported in the same month last year, according to data released today (Feb. 26) by the Central Bank. It is the highest value for the month in the time series started in December, 2001.

The highest surplus was observed in the accounts of the Central Government (Social Security, Central Bank, and the National Treasury), with $8.5 billion. The state governments also showed a positive result, with a primary surplus of $2.9 billion. Municipalities reported $618 million.

The government's goal for this year, however, is to achieve a primary surplus of $46.7 billion for the public sector. Of this total, the federal government should post a deficit of $45.3 billion, government-run companies $980 million, and states and municipalities $359 million.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira