Stênio Ribeiro
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Foreign direct investments in Brazil amounted to US$ 859 million in February, according to the Foreign Sector Report released yesterday (21) by the Central Bank (BC). This result is "very significant," says Altamir Lopes, head of the BC's Economic Department.

He pointed out, however, that the outlook for this month is even more promising, due to the situation of economic stability and the decline in the country risk premium. He believes that foreign investments in the productive sector will attain around US$ 1.2 billion this month, and he announced that, in light of the "general improvement" in the economy, the BC has raised its estimate of the influx of foreign investment for the year from US$ 16 billion to US$ 18 billion.

In Lopes' view, the favorable situation in foreign accounts and the country's economic stability are factors that serve to attract foreign investment, to the extent that, as of Monday (20), foreign investments this month already stood at US$ 850 million. Market surveys indicate an increase in intentions to invest in the productive sector, he added.

The fact that the year also got off to a good start in terms of the trade surplus (exports minus imports), which was 10% higher than it was last year over the same period, led the BC to revise its projection, as well, for this year's trade surplus, from its initial estimate of US$ 35.5 billion to US$ 39 billion, closer to the US$ 40 billion anticipated by exporters.

Translation: David Silberstein