The external debt of the private sector totaled US$ 50,209 million as of June
30, 2007, corresponding to US$ 45,396 million (90%) to liabilities declared by
the non-financial private sector (NFPS) and US$ 4,813 million (10%) to the private financial sector
(SPF).
The growth of trade finance as a result of the increase and
the seasonality of export activity and the higher levels of
imports, together with the private sector’s fluid access to international capital markets
and the availability of profits from the oil sector
, concluded in an increase in the sector’s
external debt of US$ 2,592 million (5%), registering an increase in both NFPS
(US$ 2,248 million) and SPF (US$ 344 million).
The favourable context in international markets in the second quarter of
2007 enabled the private sector not only to cover part of the needs to
finance the growth in the level of activity, but also to improve the
composition of its external liabilities. This behavior was
also accompanied by a growth in foreign exchange income from direct investments
and with the placement of new equity issues in international capital markets
.
The NFPS recorded fresh funds income in the quarter of US$ 1,965
million, an amount that constituted a maximum since the beginning of the survey at
the end of 2001. 80% of the fresh funds were obtained through the
placement of debt securities (US$ 1,546 million), an amount that is equivalent
to the total value of the issuances registered in the period 2002-2006.
There were also issues of securities in pesos for an amount equivalent to US$ 101
million.
About 45% of the fresh funds were used for the pre-cancellation
of pre-existing liabilities, with a reduction of one percentage point in the average interest rate
and the extension of the average life by almost 5 years.
Financial institutions also took advantage of the international context and
obtained fresh funds of US$ 534 million, which was the absolute maximum
since the beginning of the survey at the end of 2001. Of this total, about
US$ 470 million were raised through the primary issuance of securities in
international markets.
The average maturity of private external debt as of 30.06.07 was around
2.45 years, which implied a slight increase compared to March 2007. The average life
of the external debt of the NFPS was in the order of 2.4 years,
while for the SPF it reached 4.7 years.
