Keite Camacho
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The Social Security deficit, which reflects the difference between benefit payments and contributions, amounted to slightly over US$ 1.23 billion (R$ 3 billion) in July, less than the deficit registered in June.

The secretary of Social Security in the Ministry of Social Security, Helmut Schwarzer, said today (25) that the situation of financial imbalance reflects the increased cost of benefit payments, a consequence of populational growth and improvements in the average value of benefit payments.

Nevertheless, he underscored that contributions were up nearly 7% in comparison with July, 2004. The reason, according to the secretary, is the increase in formal job posts.

Translation: David Silberstein