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Foreign direct investments in Brazil are expected to attain US$ 2.8 billion this month, according to information released yesterday by the head of the Economic Department of the Central Bank (BC), Altamir Lopes.
He said that the total as of Monday already amounted to US$ 2.4 billlion, due to the influx of US$ 1.384 billion from the sale of stock by the Ambev brewery to the Interbrew company from Holland.
Were it not for this, the net volume of foreign investments would be similar to what it was in March, US$ 1.402 billion - double the amount registered in March, 2004, of US$ 703 million.
According to the BC economist, the favorable results obtained in March and April demonstrate that the return flow of foreign investments in the productive sector "is in full recovery, as we were hoping."
Another reason, he said, for the Bank to reaffirm its forecast of US$ 16 billion in overall inflows of foreign direct investments this year, although the financial market puts the estimate at only US$ 14.5 billion.
When he released the March External Sector report yesterday, Lopes stressed the importance of last month's US$ 3.576 billion surplus in the balance of payments (revenues minus expenditures, excluding interest payments), with current transactions and the capital account also producing surpluses of US$ 1.758 billion and US$ 1.561 billion, respectively. Once again March's US$ 3.349 trade surplus was highlighted.
According to the BC report, the balance of payments surplus could have been even better, had it not been for net outlays on services and income remittances, which totaled US$ 1.929 billion.
Outlays on services increased 26.8% in comparison with March, 2004, mainly as a result of costs involving equipment rental (US$ 350 million), computing and information (US$ 144 million), transportation (US$ 111 million), and royalty and license payments (US$ 91 million).
Agência Brasil
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