Brazil's public sector primary deficit in November sets four-year high

BRASILIA, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's public sector registered a primary deficit of 18.1 billion reals (3.49 billion U.S. dollars) in November, the worst result for the month since 2016, the Central Bank of Brazil announced on Wednesday.

In the 12 months ending in November, the primary deficit amounted to 664.6 billion reals, equivalent to 8.93 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Brazil's primary deficit figures track the fiscal performance of federal, state and local governments, and state-owned companies excluding banks, oil company Petrobras and electric utility Eletrobras, without counting interest paid on debt.

The net debt of the public sector in November amounted to 61.4 percent of Brazilian GDP, an increase of 1.4 percentage points compared to the previous month.

Gross debt, in turn, amounted to 88.1 percent of GDP, a reduction of 0.7 percentage points compared to October.