Weekly Report - 31 January 2013 (WR-13-04)

BRAZIL | Missing its target. On 30 January Brazil’s central bank reported that the country’s primary fiscal surplus for 2012 was R$105bn (US$52.5bn), 24.9% less than the R$139.8bn target set by the government of President Dilma Rousseff. Although the primary surplus is still substantial, representing 2.38% of Brazil’s GDP, it is still worrying for the government given that the 2012 figure was lower than the R$128.7bn it posted in 2011.