Brazil Government Debt Stable at 51.7% of GDP

Brazil’s net government debt remained stable in March at US$ 481.83 billion (R$ 1.021 trillion). This amount is equivalent to 51.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the sum of all wealth produced in the country.

This debt/GDP ratio represents a slight improvement from the month before, when it stood at 51.8%, according to the head of the Economic Department of the Central Bank, Altamir Lopes, in Wednesday’s, April 26, presentation of the March report on Fiscal Policy.

Lopes remarked that several factors contributed to reverse the 0.3 percentage point rise that occurred in this ratio in the first two months of the year.

The first was the primary surplus (money saved by the government to cover interest owed on government debt), which exceeded debt interest payments by US$ 134.97 million (R$ 286 million).

This was reinforced by the 7.2% appreciation of the real in relation to the US dollar and the consequent valorization of the GDP itself.

On the other hand, when the numerator is expressed in terms of the gross debt of the general government – which includes the National Social Security Institute (INSS) and state and municipal governments – the debt/GDP ratio swelled instead of shrinking.

Total debt, which amounted to US$ 696.08 billion (R$ 1.475 trillion) in February (74.9% of the GDP), increased to US$ 703.16 billion (R$ 1.490 trillion) in March (75.4% of the GDP). The increase was due mainly to the incorporation of interest payments into the debt stock.

The Fiscal Policy report shows that the financial obligations of the federal government, expressed in terms of outstanding titles in the hands of the public, rose US$ 5.19 billion (R$ 11 billion) in March in relation to February.

Despite the fact that the government redeemed US$ 1.46 billion (R$ 3.1 billion) more in titles than it issued, debt interest tipped the scales at US$ 6.65 billion (R$ 14.1 billion).

Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil and Russia Want to Strengthen Technological Ties

The joint declaration of the 4th Meeting of the Brazil-Russia High Level Cooperation Commission, ...

Port of Santos, in São Paulo, Brazil

Brazilian Trade Surplus in 2007 Grows to US$ 1.7 Billion

Brazilian exports generated US$ 2.795 billion last week, with growth of 7.21% over the ...

Brazilian Who Brought Jiu Jitsu to US Gets Award in California

Rorion Gracie, President of the Gracie Academy and chairman of the Gracie Museum in ...

Brazil Is in Iraq Trying to Drum Up Business

Through the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce Brazil is  participating in the Kurdistan DBX ...

Only Education Can Bring Brazil Out of Its Backwardness

At the recent Pan American Games, the world saw the flag of Brazil raised ...

Brazilian Judge Orders Newspaper Columnist to Shut Up or Pay Up

Brazilian Judge João Paulo Capanema de Souza, of Rio de Janeiro's 24th Special Civil ...

Death of a Tragic Jumper

"What saddens me most is the way we forgot João and so many other ...

Ahmadinejad’s Visit to Brazil: How Brasí­lia and Teheran Are Using Each Other

"Ahmadinejad, respect the human rights and don't come back here again," read a message ...

Brazil to Sell Fish to World’s Largest Fish Producer

Brazil may export fish to China and thus extend the market beyond what is ...

Guiní©-Bissau Once Again Gets Brazil’s Helping Hand

Technicians from the Brazilian government statistical bureau (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e EstatÀ­stica) (IBGE) ...