Brazil's primary surplus in January has climbed to 44.1 billion reals (9.8 billion U.S. dollars), a 41-percent year-on-year growth and the highest in 24 years, said the Treasury Secretariat on Thursday.

The increase was mainly attributed to "an atypical rise" in tax collection as well as the fall of government expenses, Treasury Secretary Mansueto Almeida said, noting that the January figure could not be used as an indiction for the rest of the year.

"There is no way to know whether it will be consistent, we will have to wait a few months to see how it goes," said Almeida.

Almeida said the January figure will contribute to achieving the fiscal target set for 2020, which is a primary deficit of 124 billion reals (27.7 billion dollars).

In 2019, Brazil registered a primary deficit of 95 billion reals (21.2 billion dollars), the lowest in five years and represents 1.3 percent of the country's GDP.