Brazil’s Central Bank Flags Card Debt Crisis With 101 Million Owing and 424% Interest

Overview

• Central bank chief Gabriel Galípolo, speaking Thursday alongside the first‑quarter Monetary Policy Report, said 101 million Brazilians carry credit‑card debt and called the revolving rate “punitive.”
• BC data for January show the revolving card rate at 424.5% a year, with balances up 31% in 12 months to R$84.8 billion and delinquency in this line at 63.5%.
• The bank detailed that about 40 million people are in the revolving line and 37 million use lender‑run installments that average 194.9% a year, leaving many borrowers stuck with triple‑digit costs.
• President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he asked Finance Minister Dario Durigan to draft debt relief, and officials are moving to favor payroll‑deducted loans and punish abusive interest outliers rather than set a hard cap.
• Galípolo urged structural fixes and warned that capping prices could choke off credit, as the BC also handled the separate “Master” case that led to suspensions of two former supervisors and an ongoing federal police probe.