Brazil's federal public debt rose in March as the government issued more debt than it redeemed and paid higher servicing costs, the national treasury said on Monday.
Brazil's tax revenue surged in March on the back of consumer demand that has continued to be robust the federal tax authority said this week.
Brazil believes the impact of an undervalued US dollar which is appreciating other currencies such as the Brazilian Real, ‘won’t last long’ according to forecasts from Finance Minister Guido Mantega.
President Rousseff arrived in Beijing Monday to begin a state visit to China that will incorporate Thursday’s summit of BRIC leaders. However Ms Rousseff’s trip to China is symbolically important since it is her first overseas visit outside Latin America and underlines the growing importance of the Brazil/China relationship, points out Capital Economics.
Brazil’s currency climbed again on Friday trading at its best levels in more than two years, as investors brushed aside another Brazilian government measure to limit credit consumption in an attempt to tame inflation.
If recent evidence is anything to go by, Brazil’s latest effort to stem the rise in the Real is unlikely to have a lasting impact on the markets, according to Capital Economics.
Brazil unveiled Wednesday the latest effort to stem a flood of foreign capital that is driving the local currency sky-high and undermining the competitiveness of the country’s exports. Finance Minister Guido Mantega blamed the currency woes on the Federal Reserve policy that keeps US interest rates near zero.
The Brazilin currency rallied more than 1.0% on Friday closing at its strongest level since August 21, 2008. The Real jumped 1.16% to 1.612 per US dollar. The gains came after a Reuters report that the government has decided to tolerate a Real trading stronger than the 1.65-per-dollar market in the short term.
Brazil’s Real retreated from the highest level since August 2008 after the central bank intervened five times Thursday to slow the currency’s advance. The Real fell 0.2% to 1.6318 per dollar, from 1.6288 Wednesday.
The inflow of US dollars to Brazil so far this year (Jan-March 4) marks a surplus of 24.3 billion USD over outflows, which helped to further appreciate the Brazilian Real, according to the latest figures released by the Central Bank.