Rio de Janeiro, Aug 26 (EFE) Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Brazil totalled $1.29 billion last month, down 60.3 percent from July 2008, the central bank has said.

FDI was also down 11.2 percent last month from the June figure of $1.45 billion, the bank said.

As of July 31, accumulated FDI in Latin America's biggest economy stood at $13.97 billion, or 30 percent less than in the same period in 2008.

The figures, however, improved from the beginning of the year, when FDI was down 60 percent.

The central bank also released figures on foreign investment in the financial markets, which saw a positive flow of $67 million in July.

So far this year, foreign portfolio investment totals $9.78 billion.