Brazil' s currency hits lowest value against US dollar in 12 years

Brazil' s currency Real continues to devaluate against the U.S. dollar, and the Real-dollar exchange rate hit 3.42 reals per dollar on Friday.

It was the lowest value of the real against the dollar since March 2003. The real devaluated 2.3 percent this week, 10.1 percent in July, and accumulates a devaluation of 28.8 percent in the first seven months of 2015.

The real fell 1.59 percent on Friday, which was widely regarded as a reaction to the news that Brazil' s public sector registered record-low primary deficit of 9.3 billion reals (2.7 billion U.S. dollars) in June, released earlier in the day.

In the first half of 2015, however, the public sector -- which comprises the central government, the state and local governments and the state-owned companies -- registered primary surplus of 16.2 billion U.S. dollars (4.7 billion U.S. dollars).

In addition, the government announced earlier in the month the decision to lower the primary surplus target for this year from 1.2 to 0.15 percent of the GDP. They also announced more budget curtailments, adding to the major cut announced in the beginning of the year.

The Brazilian stock Bovespa registered a poor performance in July, and the Ibovespa indicator fell 4.17 percent during the month, closing the day at 50,864 points.