UPDATE 1-Brazil’s Tebet says 2024 budget bill to include zero-deficit target, extra spending of $26.5 bln

Brazilian Planning Minister Simone Tebet said on Wednesday the 2024 budget bill that the government is set to send to Congress this week will include the previously announced goal of zeroing the country's fiscal deficit, in addition to a boost in public spending. "We are not debating changing that target," Tebet told journalists after local media outlets reported the economic team was considering loosening the goal to accommodate higher public spending. In a congressional hearing later on Wednesday, Tebet reiterated this commitment, highlighting that the proposed bill, set to be submitted to lawmakers on Thursday, will outline a 129 billion reais ($26.5 billion) increase in primary expenditures, which exclude the payment of public debt interest.