Brazil records highest monthly trade deficit in 13 years

Brazil recorded a trade deficit of $224 million in October, the highest monthly figure since 2000, official figures showed Friday.

In the first 10 months of the year, Brazil registered a trade deficit of $1.8 billion, the largest since 1998, according to the ministry of development, industry and foreign trade, reports Xinhua.

The October figure would be even worse were it not for the sale of an oil platform that brought in $1.9 billion, media reports said.

Exports totalled $22.82 billion in October, an increase of 0.3 percent on a year-on-year basis, while imports were $23.04 billion, a much larger increase of 9.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

During the first 10 months of the year, exports dropped by 1.9 percent compared to the same period last year while imports went up by 7.5 percent.