Brazil posted a current account surplus of $286 million in March, the strongest data for the month in 17 years, boosted by a strong trade balance performance, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

The trade balance had a positive balance of $9.48 billion, the highest figure in the entire series, driven by a significant increase in exports, with emphasis on booming shipments of oil and soybean.

This led the current account to record its first positive balance since June 2022, with a March surplus being the first since 2006.

According to the central bank, foreign direct investment totaled $7.673 billion in March.

Investors made a net portfolio investment withdrawal of $1.955 billion in Brazilian markets, compared with withdrawals of $5.489 billion in the same month last year.

Outflows in stocks totaled $3.67 billion, while inflows in bonds reached $1.715 billion.

The Treasury Secretary recently told Reuters that foreign investors

were returning

to Brazil's public debt market following the government's proposal of long-awaited new fiscal rules at the end of March. (Reporting by Marcela Ayres, Editing by Louise Heavens and Chizu Nomiyama)