BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil’s Labor Minister Luiz Marinho said on Wednesday that formal job creation in March was weaker than in the same month of previous years, providing a glimpse of official data set to be released later in the day by the government.

Marinho told state media that hiring was affected by a lower number of business days in the month, particularly because this year’s Carnival holiday fell in March, while last year it occurred in February.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast the net creation of 200,000 formal jobs in March.

The minister also said that 8.9 billion reais ($1.58 billion) in new payroll-deductible loans for private-sector workers have already been granted to nearly 1.6 million Brazilians.

The initiative, launched in late March, is expected to gain momentum in May with the introduction of a portability feature, he added.

That would allow workers to replace more expensive debt with cheaper loans by taking advantage of competition among banks.

($1 = 5.6200 reais)

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Gabriel Araujo)