Brazil Again Scraps 2015 Budget Target on Economic Slump
- Primary gap to total at least 0.85 percent of GDP this year
- Recession and political crisis upended austerity efforts
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Brazil’s government has given up on posting a budget surplus before interest payments this year as an economic contraction and dissent in Congress undermine its fiscal-austerity policies.
The government will target a so-called primary budget deficit of 51.8 billion reais ($13.3 billion), the Budget and Planning Ministry said Tuesday. States and cities are expected to post a primary surplus of 2.9 billion reais, giving the government as a whole a deficit of 48.9 billion reais, or about 0.85 percent of gross domestic product. Investors and credit-rating companies pay close attention to Brazil’s primary target, which must be approved by Congress.