The Central Bank (BC) reported today (24), in Brasília, that the stock of credit in the National Financial System (SFN) was stable in January compared to December 2021. The volume of credit last month was R$ 4,671 trillions, which corresponds to 53.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the sum of all the wealth produced in the country.
The average annual interest rate on credit operations was 25.3% in January, an increase of one percentage point (pp) in relation to last December. In the 12-month period, there was a decrease of 5.2 pp.
In credit operations with nonearmarked resources, the average interest rate reached 35.3% in January, an increase of 1.5 pp in relation to December. In the 12-month period, the interest rate increased by 6.9 pp compared to January of the previous year.
In operations with legal entities, the average interest rate stood at 21.3%, an increase of 1.6 pp in the month and 6.1 pp in 12 months.
In credit operations carried out with families, the average interest rate reached 46.3%, up 1.3 pp compared to December 2021 and 6.9 pp in the 12-month period.
Free resources for families
The BC also said that credit with free resources to families totaled R$ 1.5 trillion in the month, maintaining the growth trajectory observed in previous months, with increases of 1% in the month and 23.8% in 12 months.
Among the main modalities, the highlights were the increases in the portfolios of non-consigned personal credit (3.5%), revolving credit card (8.6%), and overdraft (13.6%), the last two influenced by seasonal factors.
The balance of credit operations with nonearmarked resources for companies reached R$ 1.3 trillion in January, a reduction of 1.8% in the month and an increase of 16.5% in twelve months, decelerating in relation to the previous month (17 .3%).
Also according to the BC, this performance resulted, in large part, from the seasonal reduction in the portfolios of anticipation of credit card bills and discount of invoices.
Directed credit totaled R$1.9 trillion in January, up 0.3% in the month and 10.9% in relation to January 2021. Directed credit to companies fell 1% in the month and 0.7% in 12 months, reaching R$ 679 billion, while credit directed to families totaled R$ 1.2 trillion, a monthly increase of 1% (+18.6% in 12 months).
In January, the average delinquency rate on credit operations was 2.5%, an increase of 0.2 pp compared to December and 0.4 pp in the year-over-year comparison.
