BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s national debt could top 100% of gross domestic product and the government’s primary deficit will probably rise above 15% of GDP, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Tuesday, as the COVID-19 crisis blows a large hole in the public finances.
Speaking in virtual testimony to a congressional committee hearing, Guedes said the deficit will be “very high, very high”, and the possible scenario he outlined is significantly worse than the government’s current official debt and deficit forecasts of 93.5% and 9.9% of GDP, respectively.
(Reporting by Marcela Ayres and Jamie McGeever; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
