BRAZIL TRADE SURPLUS RISES IN FEBRUARY

  The trade surplus doubled in
  february to 261 mln dlrs from January's 129 mln, but was  below
  the 628 mln of February 1986, official figures show.
      The director of the Banco do Brasil's foreign trade
  department (CACEX), Roberto Fendt, told reporters the upturn in
  February confirmed a rising trend in exports, which totalled
  1.53 billion dlrs against 1.26 billion in January and, after
  excluding coffee and oil derivitives, was only slightly below
  the same month last year.
      Coffee earnings were down to 110 mln dlrs against 295 mln
  in February 1986 because of lower prices, he added.
      Fendt said that although the February results were lower
  than the average expected for the rest of the year, the
  government's target of an eight-billion-dlr surplus for 1987
  should be achieved. This would compare with a 1986 surplus of
  9.5 billion dlrs.
      Exports this year are expected to total 22.5 billion dlrs
  and imports 14.5 billion, he added. In 1986 exports totalled
  22.4 billion dlrs and imports 12.9 billion.
      Fendt said the rise in imports in February to 1.27 billion
  dlrs from 1.12 billion in February last year was in line with
  government plans to foster economic growth.
      Fendt said that imports were running at levels well above
  the traditional average for Brazil.
      In the first two months of the year imports, excluding oil
  and wheat totalled, 1.8 billion dlrs against 1.47 billion in
  the same 1986 period.
      This rise in import demand reflected the needs of Brazilian
  industry to equip to raise production and is perfectly
  compatible with the government's program for economic growth,
  Fendt added.
  

