国际英语新闻：Brazil reports lower figures in trade surplus

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Brazil registered a trade surplus of 11.673 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of the year, down 41.6 percent year on year, the government said Wednesday.

The lower figures are due to the fact imports grew much more faster than exports over the period, said the Development, Industry and Trade Ministry (MDIC) in a statement.

The country's exports totaled 126.096 billion in the first eight months of the year, up 28 percent year on year, while imports were up 45.7 percent, totalling 114.423 billion dollars.

In August, the country achieved a trade surplus of 2.44 billion dollars.

The country is expected to register a trade surplus of 15 billion this year, according to the latest Focus market survey. The trade surplus in 2009 was 25.34 billion dollars.