RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government Tuesday announced a rise in the country's fiscal deficit target for this year and 2018, owing to its tax shortfall and economic austerity.
Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said the government proposes to increase the current primary deficit target around 139 billion reais (43.86 billion U.S. dollars) to 159 billion reais (50.17 billion dollars).
In 2016, Brazil registered a primary deficit of 154.2 billion reais (48.66 billion dollars).
Authorities said tax collection has not gone as smoothly as expected and the current target seems impossible to meet.
According to Brazilian law, the new objective must be approved by the Congress through a vote.
The administration suggests a primary deficit target of 159 billion reais (50.17 billion dollars) for both 2017 and 2018, indicating a less optimistic future, while the existing budget for 2018 is 129 billion reais (40.71 billion dollars) deficit.
For 2019, the current target is 65 million reais (20.51 billion dollars), while the government will raise it to 139 billion reais (43.8 billion dollars) -- a more than twofold increase.
For 2020, the government once established a primary surplus target of 10 billion reais (3.16 billion dollars), but now has proposed a primary deficit target of 65 billion reais (20.5 billion dollars).
