Brazil has 4.5 million indebted unable to pay

Approximately 4.6 million people in Brazil are in debt with financial institutions beyond what they can pay—a situation the Central Bank terms “risk indebtedness:” insolvency, income difficulties, loans in multiple categories, and income below the poverty line.

In Brazil, the population with an active credit portfolio totaled 85 million borrowers in December 2019. Of these, 5.4 percent, or 4.6 million, faced risk indebtedness, the Central Bank reported in its Bank Economy Report today (Jun. 4).

In its assessment, the Central Bank regarded as facing risk indebtedness all borrowers meeting two or more of the following criteria: having payment of credit installment overdue by over 90 days; monthly income compromised above 50 percent due to the payment of interest and amortization of debt; several simultaneous credit modalities; and available monthly income below the poverty line ($86.9 a month) after the payment of interest and amortization.

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The percentage of people facing risk indebtedness increases with age, reaching 7.8 percent of the indebted population aged 65 and above, nearly twice as much as borrowers aged up to 34 (3.8%). In other words, of the 12.4 million borrowers aged at least 65, 1 million were under risk indebtedness (7.8%). Between 34 and 54 years old, the proportion is 4.9 percent; and 7.2 percent for 55–65-year-olds.

As for monthly revenues, borrowers with an income between $989.7 and $1,989 show the highest percentage of individuals experiencing risk indebtedness—6.5 percent.