The Brazilian government reduced its outlook for the country’s economic performance for this year, as Latin America’s largest economy shows no signs of recovery, Dow Jones reported. Brazil’s gross domestic product is expected to contract 2.8% this year, according to the planning ministry, compared with the previous forecast for a contraction of 2.4%. Late Tuesday, the government cut a key financial target, acknowledging that its financial situation is much worse than previously thought. Brazil will likely have a primary deficit of 51.8 billion reais ($13.3 billion) in 2015, equal to 0.9% of its gross domestic product, the finance ministry said. As recently as August, the government was forecasting a primary surplus of 0.15% of GDP. The primary budget balance is government revenue minus noninterest spending. It’s a measure of a government’s ability to save money and pay down debt.
