Brazil Primary Budget Deficit Unexpectedly Widens in August
This article is for subscribers only.
Brazil’s primary budget deficit unexpectedly widened last month after the government cut taxes and boosted spending before elections, raising the risk of a rate downgrade in the next year.
The budget, which excludes interest payments and includes states, municipalities and government-run companies, reached a deficit of 14.5 billion reais ($5.9 billion) in August, compared with a gap of 4.7 billion reais the prior month, the central bank said in a report distributed in Brasilia today. The median estimate from 15 analysts polled by Bloomberg was for a balanced primary budget. August marked the fourth straight month of a primary deficit, and the gap was the biggest ever for the month.