Central Bank: public accounts have surplus in March; public debt falls

Data released this Wednesday 30 by the Central Bank show that the public sector had a primary surplus of 3.6 billion reais in March of this year, which led to a reduction in the General Government Gross Debt (DBGG), which encompasses the Federal Government, state and municipal governments and the National Institute of Social Security, the INSS .

According to the Central Bank, the Central Government and state-owned companies recorded combined deficits of approximately R$2.9 billion. However, regional governments had a surplus of R$6.5 billion, which leads to a surplus of R$3.6 billion – an improvement on the result in March 2024, when the surplus was R$1.2 billion.

The result for March 2025, the best for the third month of the year since 2022, brings the public debt to the sum of 9.1 trillion reais, or 75.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The reduction is 0.2 percentage points compared to the debt-to-GDP ratio in the previous month.

In the last 12 months, the consolidated public sector has a deficit of 13.5 billion, which corresponds to 0.11% of GDP.

The BC highlights an increase in revenue in real terms (i.e., above inflation). In addition, the delay in approving the 2025 Budget, which only happened in March , led to spending cuts.

The primary calculation, however, does not take into account the payment of interest on public debt. Nominal interest totaled 75.2 billion reais in March, compared to 64.2 billion in March 2024. In 12 months, there are 935 billion in interest, equivalent to 7.8% of the Gross Domestic Product.