Brazil recorded a surplus of US$620 million in its current accounts in April, the third consecutive monthly positive balance, the Central Bank said.
In April 2017, the external sector had recorded a surplus of US$1.149 million.
The current account is made up of the trade balance, the services and income account, and unilateral transfers, resources sent by Brazilians living outside the country.
"The result was expected and is part of the period where we have seasonally more favorable results for current transactions," said the head of the Statistics Department of the Central Bank, Fernando Rocha.
The agency expects a surplus of US$2.500 billion to be recorded in May as well.
As there was a deficit in January, the accumulated result in the first four months of the year was negative by US$2.604 billion, compared to the US$3.495 billion recorded in the same period in 2017.
When a country registers a negative balance in current transactions, it needs to cover the deficit with investments or loans abroad.
The best way to finance the negative balance is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), resources applied in the productive sector.
In April, these investments reached US$2.618 billion and, in the first four months, US$20.366 billion.
Rocha stressed that although FDI has decreased in recent months, it remains above the deficit in current transactions so far this year.
"We have a very low deficit, more than enough FDI to finance the country and portfolio flows (investments in stocks and fixed-income securities) fluctuating between entering and leaving the country," he explained.
According to the official, the bonds have a 100% renewal rate and a full refinancing of the maturities of Brazilian companies abroad.
For 2018, the official projection for the external accounts deficit is US$23.300 billion, equivalent to 1,09% of GDP.
In turn, the government's forecast for FDI inflows is US$80.000 billion, equivalent to 3,75% of GDP.
Source: Xinhua
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