Brazil announces nearly $32 billion in cuts to 2012 budget

Brazil announces nearly $32 billion in cuts to 2012 budget

AFP

Brazil’s government on Wednesday announced nearly $32 billion in spending cuts to its 2012 budget but said social programs and major investments for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 summer Olympics would not be affected.

“We have made a big cut of 55 billion reals (nearly $32 billion)” in budget expenditures, Finance Minister Guido Mantega told a press conference.

The cuts aim to ensure that Brazil can meet its target of a primary budget surplus of $81 billion.

The primary budget surplus of a government is the surplus excluding interest payments on its outstanding debt.

Public debt in Latin America’s leading economy amounts to 36.5 percent of gross domestic product and Mantega said the goal is to bring it down to 35 percent at the end of this year.