BRASILIA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Brazil posted tax revenue of 109.854 billion reals (27.95 billion U.S. dollars) in March, a drop of 0.58 percent, after discounting inflation compared to the same period in 2018, a report issued by the Department of Federal Revenue of Brazil said Wednesday.

The amount was below the market's average expectation of 115 billion reals (29.26 billion dollars), according to the Ministry of Economy.

In the January-March period, 385.341 billion reals (98.05 billion dollars) were collected, an actural growth of 1.09 percent, according to a report.

The lower growth in tax collection is partly attributed to the tax reduction on diesel, whose share began to decrease in June 2018.

Another factor was the less revenue from this year's tax debt renegotiation programs, which offer incentives for taxpayers to repay overdue debts.

Brazil's financial market is waiting for the approval of the pension reform proposed by the government.