Brazil's public sector gross debt falls to 76.1% of GDP in December

BRASILIA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Brazil's public sector gross debt fell sharply to 76.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in December from 77.7% in November, driven by the central bank's sale of foreign-exchange reserves during a month of intense volatility in the market.

Central bank data unveiled on Friday also showed the public sector recorded a primary surplus of 15.745 billion reais ($2.68 billion) for December, surpassing the 10.2 billion reais surplus forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.

($1 = 5.8747 reais)