Brazil's public sector gross debt down to 75.9% of GDP in March

BRASILIA, April 30 (Reuters) - Brazil's public sector gross debt declined to 75.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in March from 76.1% the month before, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

The reduction was driven by economic growth during the period, coupled with net debt redemption and the impact of the appreciation of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar.

They offset the negative effect of the heavy interest payments made by Latin America's largest economy.

In the 12 months through March, interest payments rose to 7.8% of GDP, by far the main driver of Brazil's nominal deficit of 7.92% of GDP, as the primary budget result showed a shortfall of only 0.11% of GDP.

In March alone, the public sector recorded a primary surplus of 3.588 billion reais ($638.43 million) for the month, while economists polled by Reuters were expecting a 1.5-billion-real surplus.

According to the central bank, the positive result was driven by a surplus of 6.46 billion reais from states and municipalities during the period, as the central government posted a deficit of 2.305 billion reais.

State-owned companies recorded a deficit of 566 million reais.

The Treasury, which calculates the federal government's fiscal result using a different methodology, had reported on Tuesday a surplus of 1.1 billion reais for the central government in March.

($1 = 5.6200 reais)