Brazil economy posts first budget gap in 12 years

Brasília (AFP) - Brazil on Friday posted its first budget deficit in 12 years -- more bad news for an economy already battling high inflation and facing deep spending cuts. The central Bank released data showing a public sector primary deficit equal to 0.63 percent of gross domestic product in 2014. It marks the first time that the figure has been in the red since 2002, when its central bank began keeping statistics, and shows a sharp fall-off even from the previous year, when GDP growth was 1.