Brazil public sector posts BRL 38.9 bi primary surplus in April

Brazil’s consolidated public sector recorded a primary surplus of BRL 38.9 billion in April, the Central Bank reported today (May 31). In the last 12 months, public accounts show a positive BRL 137.4 billion—1.52 percent of the country’s GDP.

The consolidated public sector encompasses the central government (National Treasury, Central Bank, Social Security), states, municipalities, and state-owned companies (except for Petrobras, Eletrobras, and public banks). Of these, state-owned firms alone faced a BRL 1.040 billion deficit in April.

The central government posted a BRL 29.638 billion surplus in April, whereas the result for regional governments in the month was a positive BRL 10.278 billion, as per the Central Bank's fiscal report.

In the first four months of the year, the primary surplus reached BRL 148.493 billion, compared to BRL 75.841 billion in the same period in 2021.

The primary result includes revenues and expenditures in the public sector, leaving out the payment of interest on the public debt. If interest payments are included, the so-called nominal result, a deficit of BRL 41.024 billion was registered in April.

The figure is the result of the difference between the primary surplus and the money spent on interest payments by the public sector in April, which totaled BRL 79.900 billion.

In the 12-month period ending in April, the nominal deficit was reported at BRL 352.042 billion—3.9 percent of the GDP, up 0.75 percentage points from March.

Public debt

Brazil’s net public sector debt reached 57.9 percent of the GDP in April (BRL 5.2 trillion). The outcome was 0.3 percentage points below the previous month. Gains were reported to have stemmed from exchange rate devaluation and the nominal GDP growth.

The general government’s gross debt (all the debts of the federal government, Social Security, and state and municipal governments) totaled 78.3 percent of the GDP (BRL 7.1 trillion) in April.