Brasília, March 24, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The balance of payments registered a US$ 306 million deficit last month, despite a US$ 196 million surplus in current transactions. This surplus, however, was offset by a US$ 1.1 billion net outflow in the financial account.

These figures appear in the monthly report on the Foreign Sector, released today by the Central Bank (BC). The report also shows that US$ 1.024 billion in foreign direct investments entered the country in February, 29.9% more than in February, 2003.

Net expenditures on services totaled US$ 200 million, 30.9% less than in February, 2003. The largest share, US$ 137 million, went to pay for transportation costs. On the other hand, according to the report, international travel yielded net receipts of US$ 95 million.

Net income transfers abroad amounted to US$ 1.8 billion last month, 47.7% more than in February, 2003. Interest payments rose from US$ 507 million to US$ 672 million, profit and dividend remittances added up to US$ 406 million, and the transfer of returns on direct investments accounted for US$ 267 million.

The BC note also explains that international reserves (in terms of foreign exchange liquidity) amounted to US$ 52.960 billion, a decline of US$ 302 million compared with January's total.

Regarding foreign debt, the most recent figures refer to December, when international obligations amounted to US$ 215 billion (2.2% less than in September, at the end of last year's third quarter). Of this total, 90.6% (US$ 194.7 billion) represent long and medium-term debt, while 9.4% (US$ 20.1 billion) are short-term.

Translator: David Silberstein