Brazil's current account deficit fell in 2016

BRASILIA: Brazil's central bank recorded a current account deficit of $23.507 billion in 2016, shrinking from the previous year and covered entirely by the $78.9 billion in foreign direct investment that flowed into the country, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

In December, the country's current account gap widened from the previous month to $5.881 billion.

That compared to a median forecast of a $4.5 billion deficit in a Reuters poll of analysts.

In 2015, Latin America's largest economy had an external deficit of $58.8 billion and foreign investment inflows of $74.4 billion.

The central bank expects the country's current account deficit to widen to $28 billion in 2017.

Brazil, which is struggling to emerge from a deep economic recession, attracted $15.409 billion in foreign direct investment in December, above the forecast in a Reuters poll of a $7 billion inflow.