RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The country’s gross debt – consisting of federal, INSS, state, and local governments – fell to 79.2% of GDP (gross domestic product). The decrease amounted to 0.4 percentage points. The Central Bank (BC – Banco Central) published the result on Monday (2.5.2022).
According to the Central Bank, public debt fell for the fourth consecutive month. In February, the decline was due to the effect of nominal GDP growth, which lowered the debt level by 0.7 percentage points.
The appreciation of the real against the dollar also contributed to the 0.2 percentage point decline. Interest payments on the debt increased the debt level by 0.6 percentage points.
The February debt should have been canceled on March 31, 2022. A strike by Central Bank officials delayed publication of the indicator by one month.
The strike postponed the publication of other financial and economic indicators by the monetary authority. The work was to resume on Tuesday (May 3, 2022).
The percentage in February was the lowest since April 2020, the second month of the Covid 19 pandemic.
The value of shares reached R$7 trillion. In January 2022, it was R$6.973 (US$1.39) trillion. The last – and only – time that debt exceeded R$7 trillion was in October 2021.