Fernando Rocha, head of the BC Statistics Department, said that net debt renewed a record and reflects the growth trajectory of public debt
DBGG (Gross General Government Debt) rose to 80.4% of Gross Domestic Product in April 2026 and reached the highest level since June 2021, the Central Bank reported this Friday (May 29, 2026). The debt stock reached R$10.4 trillion.
The indicator increased 0.3 percentage points compared to March. According to Fernando Rocha, head of the Central Bank’s Statistics Department, the trajectory shows a consistent growth in public debt.
“The 2 concepts of gross debt have a growth trajectory, as does the concept of net debt”he declared.
Rocha said that the rise in debt mainly reflects the incorporation of nominal interest. In April, interest added 0.9 pp to DBGG.
Year-to-date, gross debt rose 1.7 pp of GDP. According to the BC, nominal interest rates accounted for 3.3 pp of this increase.
NEW RECORD
Net debt also reached an all-time high. The indicator reached 67.4% of GDP in April, an increase of 0.6 pp compared to the previous month.
“March had been a record result for the Central Bank’s historical series. And April, now, is a new record”said Rocha. The series began in December 2001.
The head of the BC Statistics Department stated that the nominal deficit and exchange rate appreciation contributed to the increase in net debt in the month.
“Remember that there was a surplus in the month, but the interest bill was higher than this surplus, so there was a nominal deficit in the month”he declared.
According to the BC, the public sector’s nominal deficit reached R$60.1 billion in April. In 12 months, the loss amounts to R$1.22 trillion, equivalent to 9.41% of GDP.
Rocha also explained the difference between the debt concepts used by the Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. According to the IMF methodology, Brazilian gross debt reached 93.1% of GDP in April.
The number is higher than the concept used by the BC because it includes the so-called free portfolio of public securities maintained by the Central Bank.
“As gross debt in the IMF concept includes the active portfolio and gross debt in the Central Bank concept does not include it, gross debt in the IMF concept will always be greater”said Rocha.
