Brazil Budget Deficit Narrows

Brazil posted a primary budget deficit of 9.524 billion reais ($3.01 billion) in August, central bank data showed on Friday, smaller than the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 16.7 billion reais. The deficit in the 12 months through August reached 157.8 billion reais, equal to 2.44% of gross domestic product and close to the proposed target for a deficit of 159 billion reais this year. The government budget picture is a healthy one with big injections of funds into the private sector and is indeed the sector doing the heavy lifting and causing asset prices to rise.