BRASILIA, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's government could
revise its policy on income tax exemptions for private debt
securities if issuance becomes excessive, a senior Treasury
official said on Wednesday, amid ongoing pressure on sovereign
bond yields.
Strong demand for tax-exempt private bonds has forced the
Treasury to offer higher yields on inflation-linked sovereign
notes to stay competitive.
Speaking at a press conference, public debt coordinator
Helio Miranda said the Treasury had indeed seen pressure in the
bond market this year, slowing the issuance of inflation-linked
bonds, known as NTN-Bs, when it sensed market strain.
According to Miranda, tax-exempt securities have experienced
a "very large" increase over the past five years.
Asked about possible limits on tax-exempt bonds after
Congress let a proposal to raise their tax rate to 5% expire, he
said: "If an excessive volume is observed, we can indeed adjust
the policy."
Sovereign bonds are currently taxed at 22.5% to 15%, with
rates decreasing over the holding period. The lapsed bill also
sought to unify that rate at 17.5%.
Treasury data showed the average annual yield on
inflation-linked bonds rose to 7.43% in September, the highest
real rate since the series began in January 2021.
The average cost of overall domestic debt issuance over the
past 12 months climbed to 13.74%, the highest since November
2016, when Brazil was going through its worst recession on
record amid deep concerns over fiscal policy.
In September, Brazil's public debt fell 0.28% from the
previous month, to 8.122 trillion reais ($1.50 trillion), as net
redemptions outpaced interest payments.
Year to date, however, federal debt has risen 11.02%, or
805.94 billion reais, with 77.2% of the increase driven by
interest payments and the remainder by net bond issuance to fund
government spending.