Overview
- The Central Bank’s new Financial Citizenship Report describes a rise in severe household debt and counts nearly 130 million Brazilians with financial debts, equal to 74% of banked adults.
- It cites a rapid shift into high-cost, unsecured credit since 2020, with personal-loan users up 214% to 41.7 million and card debtors up 55% to about 53 million.
- Finance Minister Dario Durigan said the administration is considering letting workers use a capped share of FGTS savings to pay bills and reviving Desenrola to renegotiate overdue debts.
- Fresh data from retailer group CNC show 80.4% of families carried debt in March and 29.6% were in arrears, flat month to month but up from a year earlier.
- The Central Bank warns heavy debt is straining well-being, noting research that links excessive borrowing to stress, anxiety and depression.