Brazil posted a current account surplus of $286 million in March, the strongest data for the month in 17 years, boosted by a strong trade balance performance, central bank data showed on Tuesday.
The trade balance had a positive balance of $9.48 billion, the highest figure in the entire series, driven by a significant
increase
in exports, with emphasis on booming shipments of oil and
soybean.
This led the current account to record its first positive balance since June 2022, with a March surplus being the first since 2006.
According to the central bank, foreign direct investment totaled $7.673 billion in March.
Investors made a net portfolio investment withdrawal of
$1.955 billion in Brazilian markets, compared with withdrawals
of $5.489 billion in the same month last year.
Outflows in stocks totaled $3.67 billion, while inflows in bonds reached $1.715 billion.
The Treasury Secretary recently told Reuters that foreign investors
were returning
to Brazil's public debt market following the government's
proposal of long-awaited new fiscal rules at the end of March.
(Reporting by Marcela Ayres, Editing by Louise Heavens and
Chizu Nomiyama)
