Brasília, April 22, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The balance of imports, exports, payments and receipts for services, revenues, and one-way transfers showed a cumulative surplus of US$ 1.7 billion in Brazil's favor between January and March of this year, according to the minutes of last week's meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom), released today by the Central Bank.

During the first two months the surplus came to US$ 865 million. However, good results in the trade balance added US$ 835 million to the surplus in March, giving a strong indication that Brazil should end the year in positive figures for the second time in a row.

After eleven consecutive years of current account deficits, the country registered a surplus of US$ 4.05 billion in 2003, despite a surplus of only US$ 82 million in the first quarter of the year.

Translator: David Silberstein