The stock of outstanding loans in Brazil’s financial system increased by 0.6% in May 2026 from the previous month, reaching R$7.3 trillion. Despite this acceleration, the pace of expansion remained slightly below the average recorded since the recovery from the 2017 economic crisis. This moderation reflected the Brazilian central bank’s decision to keep its policy rate among the highest real interest rates in the world in order to contain inflationary pressures.
Credit to households rose 0.5% in the period, totaling R$4.6 trillion, while lending to companies grew 0.7%, reaching R$2.7 trillion.
