National Treasury posts surplus in March
Secretary for the National Treasury Marcelo Saintive 
Secretary for the National Treasury Marcelo Saintive said on Wednesday (Apr 29) that the federal government's primary surplus for March was below the expected—down 54.3% from the $1,089 billion posted in the same month last year. The figure is important, however, as it shows that the trend has been reversed. The surplus for March stands at $498.04 million. February, in turn, saw a deficit of $2.519,15 billion. As for the whole of the year's first quarter, a surplus of $1,530 billion has been reported.
The first quarter's positive balance is 65.8% below the $4,460 billion ed in same period last year. Saintive itted that revenues are on the wane as a result of the economic slowdown. He went on to highlight that costs incurred by the government in 2014 cannot be averted right away. Nevertheless, he says, “what this outcome tells us is that we're heading towards a reduction.”
In March, total government spending amounted to $27,619 billion, up 4.7% from February and 5.7% from March 2014. Nonetheless, a plunge was observed in investments under the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), which totaled $1,008 billion last month, up 8.5% compared to February this year, but down 32.5% against March 2014.
Saintive also argued it is possible to hit the primary surplus target of 1.2% of the GDP this year. “We're headed for the target,” he declared. In 2014, Brazil closed out the year with its first primary deficit in the history of the country's public s—a negative $5,855.32 billion.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: National Treasury posts surplus in March
