External accounts register deficit of US$ 2.8 billion in March

Brazilian external accounts registered a deficit of US$ 2.8 billion in March. In March of last year, there was also a deficit of US$ 5.2 billion in accounts representing purchases and sales of goods, services and income transfers with other countries. External accounts register deficit of US$ 2.8 billion in March

Published today (25) by the Central Bank, the external sector statistics for the month of March show that, in the inter-annual comparison, “there was an increase of US$ 6.6 billion in the balance of trade in goods, partially offset by increases of US$ 6.6 billion. $2.8 billion in the primary income deficit and $1.1 billion in the services deficit.

Also according to the monetary authority, the deficit in current transactions in the 12 months ended in March was US$ 23.5 billion, a value that corresponds to 1.41% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, the sum of goods and services produced in the country).

In February, the deficit was US$ 26 billion (1.59% of GDP); and in March 2021 it was at US$ 22.8 billion (1.62% of GDP).

Assets

With regard to the trade balance of goods, the Central Bank registered a surplus of US$ 6.1 billion in March. In the same month of 2021, the balance was negative by US$ 514 million.

According to the BC, exports of goods totaled US$ 29.7 billion, while imports totaled US$ 23.6 billion. These values represent, respectively, an increase of 21.1% and a decrease of 5.8% compared to March 2021.

Imports under the Special Customs Regime for Goods for Research and Exploitation of Oil and Natural Gas Reservoirs (Repetro) totaled US$153 million in March (US$6.5 billion in March 2021).

“Excluding Repetro operations, the year-on-year comparison of imports registered an increase of 26.3%”, said the BC.

services

Regarding the services account, the deficit registered in March increased by 106.8% compared to the same month in 2021, reaching US$ 2.2 billion. The international travel account recorded net expenses of US$648 million in the month, compared to US$100 million in March 2021.

“On the same comparative basis, and following the trend of recent months, gross travel revenue flows expanded 112.2% to US$453 million, and travel expenses grew 251.8% to US$1.1 billion ”, details the monetary authority.

Also according to external sector statistics, net transport expenses totaled US$ 428 million in March 2022, compared to US$ 253 million in March 2021. Equipment rental recorded net expenses of US$ 651 million, a figure that represents an increase of 14.8%, based on March 2021.

The primary income account had a deficit 68.5% higher than that recorded in March last year, totaling US$ 7 billion. Net income and dividend expenses increased to $5 billion from $2.8 billion in March 2021, “driven by a $2 billion increase in gross expenses.”

According to the BC, net interest expenses totaled US$ 2 billion in March 2022. In the same month of 2021, these expenses were US$ 1.3 billion.

net income

In March 2022, US$ 7.6 billion entered the country through direct investments (IDP), a value higher than the US$ 7 billion in net inflows for this type of investment, recorded in March 2021.

“There were net inflows of US$ 6.2 billion in capital participation and US$ 1.4 billion in intercompany operations”, details the monetary authority. According to the BC, in the 12-month period ending in March, the IDP totaled US$ 51.2 billion (3.08% of GDP), compared to US$ 50.7 billion (3.11% of GDP) in the previous month; and the US$44 billion (3.12% of GDP) in March 2021.

“Portfolio investments in the domestic market totaled net outflows of $5.5 billion in March, comprised of outflows of $6.6 billion in debt securities and inflows of $1.1 billion in equities and investment funds. . In the 12 months ending in March, portfolio investments in the domestic market added up to net inflows of US$ 19.8 billion,” said the BC.