Brazil’s Budget Deficit Comes in Below Forecast in June

Brazil posted a narrower-than-forecast budget deficit before interest payments in June as Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles seeks to control government spending and restore investor confidence in Latin America’s largest economy.

The central government recorded a so-called primary budget deficit -- excluding the performance of states, municipalities and state companies -- of 8.8 billion reais ($2.7 billion) in June, the national Treasury said Thursday. That compares with a median estimate for a 14.5 billion-real gap from 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Over the past 12-month period, the primary fiscal deficit reached 151.8 billion reais, compared with a target of a 170.5 billion-real gap for the full year of 2016.