In January 2024, the Federal Government of Brazil registered a record primary surplus of 84.882 billion reais (14.636 billion dollars). This positive result includes the accounts of the Treasury, the Central Bank, and Social Security. The goal of the Brazilian government is to achieve a neutral primary result by 2025, with a tolerance margin of 0.25 percent of the estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for that year, which amounts to 30.970 billion reais (5.340 billion dollars), following the guidelines of the new fiscal framework.
The positive balance in January from the central government is due to a surplus of 104.511 billion reais (18.019 billion dollars) from the Treasury, which compensated for deficits from the Central Bank (13.3 million reais or 2.293 billion dollars) and Social Security (19.615 billion reais or 3.381 billion dollars). In the country, the months of January usually yield strongly positive primary results, with revenues exceeding expenditures.
In the historical series of the Treasury that began in 1997, there was only one fiscal deficit in January, which occurred that same year for 977.70 million reais (168.57 million dollars). To control expenditure execution until the approval of the 2025 Budget, the government is currently executing only 1/18 of the total authorized amount each month.
"We intend to be conservative and we must act to have a first semester with lower execution to have more room to maneuver throughout the year," stated Treasury Deputy Journalist, Viviane Varga. The government's expectation is that the Budget will be approved in the third week of March.
