BRASILIA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's financial foreign exchange outflows reached $8.5 billion in the first half, reversing a $2 billion inflow recorded in the same period last year, official data showed on Wednesday.
Year-to-date financial flows were positive through April. But outflows of 6.1 billion in May and 3.7 billion in June changed the picture, according to central bank data.
Dollar inflows into the country's financial segment were earlier seen as a sign of interest from foreign investors, following annual outflows that have been recorded since 2013.
Figures were released late by the government and were still not normalized to their weekly periodicity, affected by a strike by central bank employees that ended last month.
On the other hand, trade foreign exchange flows reached 27.7 billion in the first half of the year, doubling from the same period in 2021, while Brazil kept increasing exports after a surge in commodity prices triggered by the Ukraine war.
As a result, net foreign exchange inflows totaled $19.1 billion in the first half, up 24.7% over a year earlier.
Foreign exchange inflows have helped the Brazilian real to rise 6.5% against the U.S. dollar through June. By Tuesday, the currency's rally had slowed to 5.6%. (Reporting by Marcela Ayres Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
