Brazil's foreign debt up

Brazil's foreign debt up

According to a report in the Folha de Sao Paulo, Brazil paid US$49.53 billion in interest alone to its foreign private and government creditors between 1990 and July 1996.

Despite this, the total amount of the foreign debt increased by 38.15% between December 1989 and December 1995. In real terms, it increased from US$115.096 to US$159.005 billion. The amount paid during this period is just over 82% of the Brazilian international reserves.

Besides interest payments on foreign loans, US$13.13 profits were sent by multinational firms in Brazil to their foreign headquarters between 1990 and last July. During the same period, Brazilian firms with business interests in other countries sent US$2.8 billion back to Brazil. [From Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz.]

From GLW issue 248