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Brazil: anatomy of a budget meltdown

We estimate that only one-sixth of the jump in Brazil’s budget deficit over the past two years has been due to a drop in tax receipts. Instead, the bulk (five-sixths) has been due to a rise in expenditure. Most of this rise in spending has been due to an increase in interest payments and losses on FX swap contracts but there has also been a substantial increase in so-called “primary expenditure”.

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