PHOTO
Brazilian Real and U.S. dollar notes are pictured at a currency exchange office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in this September 10, 2015 photo illustration. One thing is clear for Brazil's economy after its credit rating was downgraded to junk: political leaders now have little choice but to push ahead with painful austerity measures if they hope to regain market confidence. Standard & Poor's on Wednesday stripped Brazil of its hard-won investment grade rating, moving sooner than the government and investors had expected. Although investors expected a downgrade at some point, they still sold off Brazilian assets early on Thursday. Stocks suffered modest losses while the currency, the real, fell nearly 3 percent to a 13-year low of 3.9 per dollar. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
Brazil posted a current account deficit of $1.68 billion in April, the central bank said on Friday, way larger than the $0.25 billion expected by economists polled by Reuters.
Foreign direct investment totaled $3.31 billion in the month, also missing economists' estimates of $4.3 billion. (Reporting by Camila Moreira; Editing by Steven Grattan)
