Brazil Primary Deficit Unexpectedly Shrinks After Downgrade

Brazil’s central government primary budget deficit shrank last month, beating estimates made by analysts who expected fiscal accounts to deteriorate.

The gap, which excludes interest payments as well as municipalities and government-run companies, was 5.1 billion reais ($1.3 billion) in August, Brazil’s Treasury reported Tuesday. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a deficit of 10.7 billion reais following a gap of 7.2 billion reais in July.

This is the first time in more than a year the primary budget result has positively surprised analysts.

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