Public accounts closed the month of January with a positive balance, with surpluses in all spheres of government, federal and regional. The consolidated public sector – made up of the Union, states, municipalities and state-owned companies – recorded a primary surplus of R$103.7 billion last month.
Compared to January 2025, there was a reduction in the balance; that month, the result of the accounts was R$104.1 billion positive.
Fiscal statistics were released this Friday (27) by the Central Bank (BC). The primary result represents the difference between revenues and expenses, disregarding interest payments on public debt.
In 12 months, the consolidated public sector had a deficit of R$55.4 billion, 0.43% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, the sum of goods and services produced in the country).
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In 2025, public accounts closed the year with primary deficit of R$55 billion0.43% of GDP.
Spheres of government
Last January, the Central Government account had a primary surplus of R$87.3 billion compared to a negative result of R$83.2 billion in January 2025. The amount differs from the result released this Wednesday (25) by the National Treasury, of deficit of R$86.9 billion, because the BC uses a different methodology, which takes into account the variation in the debt of public entities.
Regional – state and municipal governments had a positive result of R$ 21.3 billion last January compared to R$ 22 billion in the same month of 2025, contributing to increasing the surplus in public accounts.
Conversely, federal, state and municipal state-owned companies – excluded from the Petrobras and Eletrobras groups – contributed to the reduction of the surplus in the consolidated accounts, with a negative result of R$4.9 billion in January. In the same month of 2025, there was a deficit of R$1 billion.
Interest expenses totaled R$63.6 billion last month, influenced by rise in the basic interest rate – Selic – and the stock of net debt in the period. As a result, the nominal result of public accounts – formed by the primary result and interest – fell, in the interannual comparison. In January, the nominal surplus was R$40.1 billion compared to the positive result of R$63.7 billion in the same month of 2025.
In the 12 months ending in January, the public sector accumulated a deficit of R$1.1 trillion, or 8.49% of GDP. The nominal result is taken into account by risk rating agencies when analyzing a country’s debt, an indicator observed by investors.
Public debt
The public sector’s net debt – the balance between the total credits and debts of federal, state and municipal governments – reached R$8.3 trillion in January, which corresponds to 65% of GDP, a reduction of 0.3 percentage points of GDP in the month.
The reduction is due to the month’s primary surplus, the variation in nominal GDP and adjustments in the net external debt, offset by appropriate nominal interest and the exchange rate appreciation of 4.9% in January. As the country is a creditor in foreign currency, an increase in the dollar means an increase in net debt.
Last month, the gross general government debt (DBGG) – which only accounts for the liabilities of federal, state and municipal governments – reached R$10.1 trillion or 78.7%, the same percentage of GDP observed in the previous month. Just like the nominal result, gross debt is used to draw international comparisons.
