Just over R$ 4 thousand. This is what each Brazilian with a negative CPF should, on average, according to data collected by Serasa Experian in March and released this Wednesday (20).
The value had a slight increase of 0.1% compared to February and just over 3% compared to April 2020, peak of default during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The survey from March this year shows that balancing the domestic budget is as difficult as it was at the beginning of the spread of the coronavirus, when the country was practically at a standstill due to the need for social isolation.
For the second month in a row, the number of defaulters exceeded 65 million, an index only exceeded in April and May 2020. There are 65.69 million with the ‘dirty name’, an increase of 0.81% compared to February this year.
The sum of debts reached BRL 265.8 billion, BRL 7.5 billion more than recorded at the peak of the pandemic and an increase of 0.91% compared to the previous month.
“The biggest responsible for these debts are loans and credit cards, responsible for 28.17%, followed by basic bills such as water and electricity, with 23.21%. In third place are department stores, clothing stores, retail in general, with 12.62%”, explains the manager of Serasa Experian, Thiago Ramos.
Women represent 50.2% of those in debt and men, 49.8%. Regarding the age group, the most present is concentrated between 26 and 40 years old (35.2%), followed by between 41 and 60 years old (49.8%).
Ramos reports that research by Serasa indicates the general perception of Brazilians about the increase in prices, especially for market and pharmacy items. Given the high number of defaulters and also the size of the debt, the scenario indicates the difficulty of people to keep their financial commitments up to date.
“You have an external conflict scenario [na Ucrânia]. And internally, with an increase in the number of informal workers, a record, there are more than 138 million. The average income is at the lowest level since 2012, around R$ 2,400. Unemployment, despite a slight percentage drop, has not yet been able to break the barrier of 12 million unemployed”, said Ramos about the country’s economic moment.
How to clear the name?
Economist Ricardo Macedo argues that the extraordinary withdrawal from the Severance Indemnity Fund, of up to R$1,000 per worker, whose first payments began this Wednesday, is one of the strategies to resolve the CPF’s pending issues.
“You had a certain ease of credit during the pandemic. What has happened recently is a recovery of jobs, but with much lower income. Add to that inflation, what happens? You can’t fit the budget. The ideal is to pay off the debt, start saving to readjust the budget”, he said.
With the Selic, basic interest rate, at 11.75%, the economist recommends that financing should be avoided. The priority should be to renegotiate the debt and make changes in the budget, with buying cheaper products on the market.
It is worth remembering that when dividing a financial pending, for example, the person has their name cleared as soon as they pay the first installment. In the case of Serasa, the negotiation can be carried out through the company’s website or application and also in person at the Post Office.
Source: CNN Brasil
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