Economic crisis sees Brazilian families struggling with debt

Amid a recession which has already lasted for two years, the share of Brazilian families in debt rose to 57.9 percent in March, a survey revealed on Tuesday.

According to the Consumers' Indebtedness and Defaults Survey (Peic), released by the National Trade Confederation (CNC), the figures rose from 56.2 percent in February and fell from 60.3 percent in the same period last year. Out of the 57.9 percent of indebted families, 14.2 percent are "very indebted," according to the survey.

For the CNC, these figures indicate that the country hardly advanced in terms of access to credit and loans over the past year.

In addition to growing levels of debt, the number of defaults is also on the rise, with the level of defaults increasing to 23.7 percent in March, up from 23 percent in February.

The report showed that 9.9 percent of Brazilian families have no means to pay their debts, the highest level since early 2010. However, 22 percent of families have over half of their average income compromised due to their levels of debt.

Most of the indebted families - 76.6 percent - have debts with credit card companies, CNC said. While this is common across the world, these figures are concerning as credit card interest rates are notoriously high in Brazil. Enditem