The external debt of the private sector declared as of March 31, 2005 totaled US$52,064 million, of which US$
45,933 million (88%) corresponded to the non-financial private sector
(NFPS) and US$6,131 million (12%) to the private
financial sector (SPF).
̧ The SPF reduced its foreign obligations in this period by one tenth
compared to last December, while the fall in the NFPS represented 3% of
external liabilities at the end of last December.
̧ These reductions confirmed the behavior that has been observed
since December 2001. The cumulative net decrease in the 13
quarters surveyed totaled US$ 25,800 million, or a third of the total declared
to that date.
̧ NFPS debt capitalizations and/or forgiveness totaled US$ 1,132 million in the
quarter, once again becoming the main cause of
the sector’s external debt reduction. Likewise, obligations for
US$ 489 million were canceled with the use of own funds abroad.
̧ The NFPS received new financial funds in the amount of US$ 703
million in the first quarter of 2005, corresponding to US$ 417 million to
disbursements by parent companies and/or subsidiaries, while the remaining US$ 286 million
were granted by other creditors.
̧ Part of these funds were allocated to the pre-cancellation of external debt,
reflecting the changes that have taken place in the possibilities of access of the private sector to
external financing. In this context, several companies were active in
managing their external liabilities portfolio, improving the
profile and cost of their external borrowing.
̧ In the first quarter of the year, the NFPS prepaid financial debts totaling
US$ 880 million, 42% of which was funded with the use of external financing
, 40% with domestic funds – including domestic debt – and
18% using equity abroad.
̧ The decrease in the financial sector’s
external debt by US$ 660 million in the quarter was basically due to the pre-cancellation of medium-term refinanced financial
debt for US$ 549 million and the capitalization of
credit lines of parent companies for US$ 140 million.
