RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – While many economies are groaning under the debt accumulated during the pandemic, the second largest American economy after the U.S. is showing that sound economic management is possible even in these difficult times.
Brazil recorded a nominal deficit of R$329.415 billion (US$59.14 billion) between January and November 2021, equivalent to 4.16% of gross domestic product (GDP), while debt declined moderately, the central bank reported Thursday.
The negative balance between revenues and expenditures of the Brazilian public sector, including the central government, regional governments, municipalities, state-owned enterprises, and debt interest payments, fell 64.9% in the first 11 months of the year compared to the same period in 2020.
The public budget deficit accumulated between January and November is even lower than in the same period of 2019 before the economic crisis caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, when the negative balance amounted to R$390.721 billion (US$70.147 billion), equivalent to 5.81% of GDP.
In the 12 months to November, the nominal deficit of public budgets amounted to R$405.223 billion (about US$72.750 billion), equivalent to 4.71 percent of GDP.
In November, the country recorded a nominal budget deficit of R$26.608 billion (US$4.777 billion), 32.2% more than last year’s same month.
The primary surplus – which does not take into account what the government spends to pay interest on debt, but which the government uses as a reference to measure the state of public finances – was R$64.604 billion (US$11.598 billion) between January and November (-0.82% of GDP), reversing the 2020 deficit.
In the same period last year, Brazil had recorded a primary deficit of R$651.113 billion (US$116.896 billion), equivalent to 9.60% of GDP.
The Brazilian Monetary Authority also reported that gross public debt stood at R$7 trillion (about US$1.25 trillion) through Nov. 30, equivalent to 81.1% of GDP, down 1.8 percentage points from October.
The country’s GDP was estimated at R$8.6 trillion (about US$1.54 trillion) as of November.