Brazil's government debt as a share of gross domestic product increased to 74.4% in September from 74.3% the month before, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

The Brazilian public sector posted a primary deficit of 18.071 billion reais ($3.71 billion) for the month, while economists polled by Reuters were expecting a 4.26 billion reais surplus. ($1 = 4.8724 reais) (Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Steven Grattan)