Sao Paulo: Brazil in 2014 posted its first annual trade deficit in 14 years as commodity prices fell and trade with Argentina shrank.
Latin America’s largest economy posted a $3.9bn trade deficit last year, as December ended with a surplus of $293m, the Trade Ministry said in a report. That is the worst annual result since a $1.2bn deficit in 1999. The median estimate from 18 economists surveyed was for a surplus of $219m in the final month of 2014.
Brazil in 2014 probably expanded at the slowest pace in five years as above-target inflation eroded consumer confidence and the lower price for mineral and farm products hurt exports, according to analysts surveyed. Growth is expected to pick up this year as the central bank forecasts a weaker real and faster global growth will fuel external sales.
Swap rates on the contract due in January 2017, the most traded in Sao Paulo yesterday, fell four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 12.85 percent at 3:14pm local time. The real, which has depreciated 9.9 percent in the last three months, weakened 1.2 percent to 2.7274 per US dollar. Exports in December were $17.5bn and imports $17.2bn, compared with median estimates of $18.7bn and $18.2bn respectively. Exports for the year were $225bn, down from $242bn in 2013, while imports were $229bn in 2014, down from $240bn. Bloomberg
