Brazils public debt rises 1.51% in February

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazils federal public debt grew 1.51% in February from the month before, the Treasury said on Wednesday, marked by a further increase in issuance costs.

The total debt stock reached 5.856 trillion reais ($1.14 trillion), affected by net issuance of 32.93 billion reais and interest payments on public debt of 54.38 billion reais.

The average interest rate on the issue of domestic federal debt rose to 12.44% in February from 12.23% in January.

The Treasury stressed in a statement that the intermediate and long parts of the yield curve steepened “due to the continued uncertainty environment in the external market,” amid increased expectations of a stricter monetary policy in the U.S. following strong activity data.

The Treasurys liquidity reserve, which allows the government to have flexibility in debt management amid market volatility, rose 4.43% in February from the month before, to 995.66 billion reais, enough to pay 6.87 months ahead of maturities.

($1 = 5.1396 reais)

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Chris Reese and Aurora Ellis)