💸 Credit discomfort peak

Amid Brazil’s prolonged period of sky-high interest rates, rising debt has become a constant concern for families, banks and the government. 

The toll that indebtedness is taking on well-being is — in the eyes of the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration — the explanation for why generally good employment and income numbers are not translating into stronger approval ratings. The government recently launched a new edition of a debt renegotiation program to try and tackle this very issue.

A new index devised by researchers at the Getulio Vargas Foundation sheds light on the current picture by gauging the degree of “credit discomfort” among families, which now sits at its highest level since at least 2014.

The index combines official Central Bank data to capture three aspects of Brazilians' relationship with credit: household debt-to-income, delinquency, and the kind of debt being taken on. The results paint a bleak picture:

Don’t miss out! Upgrade to unlock full access. The process takes only seconds with Apple Pay or Stripe. Become a member.

We’re here for readers who want to truly understand Brazil and Latin America — a region too often ignored or misrepresented by the international media.

Since 2017, our reporting has been powered by paid subscribers. They’re the reason we can keep a full-time team of journalists across Brazil and Argentina, delivering sharp, independent coverage every day.

If you value our work, subscribing is the best way to keep it going — and growing.