# Renegotiating debt is not building prosperity

With 81.7% of families in debt and 70% of households under some budget constraint, Brazil needs to discuss how to expand the capacity to generate income, not just how to relieve overdue bills.

- Columnist: [Marcello D'Angelo](https://ceoone.com.br/en/columnist/marcello-dangelo)
- Published: October 19, 2026
- Address: https://ceoone.com.br/en/article/renegotiating-debt-is-not-building-prosperity
- Em português: https://ceoone.com.br/artigo/renegociar-dividas-nao-e-construir-prosperidade.md

![Hands opening an empty brown leather wallet, in front of a white T-shirt](https://pub-b80e49b2737940b3ab5d3f20d0578192.r2.dev/artigos/renegociar-dividas-nao-e-construir-prosperidade-foto.webp)

Photo: Towfiqu barbhuiya/Unsplash

## Key points

- CNC survey: 81.7% of families had debts in September; 29.6% had overdue bills and 19.4% were committing more than half of their income.
- Renegotiating relieves a past obligation but doesn't change the conditions that led to the debt: without enough income, credit goes back to paying everyday expenses.
- The author calls on candidates to commit on four fronts: income generation, quality of credit, building wealth and financial education with real opportunities.

Brazilians are doing the math. A lot of math. They decide what to buy, what to put off, which debt to pay first and how much of their salary will still be left at the end of the month. It isn't just about consuming less. It's about reorganizing life around an increasingly contested budget.

A study released in October by Worldpanel by Numerator shows that 70% of Brazilian households face some degree of budget constraint. In the second quarter of 2026, purchases on promotion grew 35% in value, while store brands grew 10%. Families started concentrating their shopping into fewer store visits and choosing more carefully what they want to keep.

The data reveal an impressive capacity to adapt. But they also expose a problem that the economic and electoral debate has not yet faced with the necessary depth.

Brazilians have learned to manage scarcity. What the country lacks is a consistent plan to overcome it.

The Consumer Debt and Default Survey, released by the National Confederation of Commerce (CNC) in October, found that 81.7% of families had debts in September. Of these, 29.6% had overdue bills. And 19.4% were committing more than half of their income to debt payments.

It's important to distinguish the concepts. Being in debt does not necessarily mean being in default. Mortgages, installments and credit used in a planned way are part of economic life. The problem appears when debt stops financing opportunities and starts limiting choices, absorbing an excessive share of income.

That is the point that should mobilize candidates, policymakers, financial institutions and business leaders.

## The limits of temporary solutions

Renegotiating debt is necessary. Lowering interest rates, extending terms and allowing families to regain access to credit can relieve situations of great hardship. Programs of this kind have social and economic value.

But renegotiation is not an increase in income. A discount can reduce a past obligation without changing the conditions that led to the debt. A smaller installment can free up some room in the budget, but it doesn't guarantee the budget will stay balanced in the following months.

When disposable income remains insufficient, credit goes back to financing everyday expenses. And the cycle can start again.

The same reasoning applies to temporary benefits and emergency initiatives. They are important tools in certain circumstances. They should not, however, replace an economic development strategy.

Relieving the budget is a protective measure. Expanding the capacity to generate income is a prosperity policy.

The difference seems simple. Its consequences are enormous.

## Consumers are doing their part

The Worldpanel survey brings a revealing detail. Even under financial pressure, Brazilian consumers are not simply abandoning more expensive products.

They combine promotions, store brands and cheaper alternatives to keep certain premium products, especially in the categories they consider important.

In other words, they are setting priorities.

A family may save on cleaning products to keep a certain choice of food. It may switch supermarkets, concentrate its shopping at cash-and-carry wholesale stores or look for cheaper alternatives without giving up small habits associated with comfort and well-being.

This behavior does not reflect a lack of financial discipline. It reflects an attempt to preserve quality of life within the available means.

For companies, it is a sign of change in the competition for consumers. For the Brazilian economy, it is a warning: millions of families are reorganizing their expenses, but this individual capacity to adapt has limits.

No household strategy can indefinitely make up for the combination of expensive credit, committed income and insufficient opportunities to build wealth.

## What's missing from the economic debate

Brazil needs to discuss debt beyond renegotiation programs. And that requires verifiable commitments on at least four fronts.

The first is income generation. Jobs matter, but so do productivity, skills, professional mobility and the capacity to produce more value per hour worked. Without sustainable productivity gains, a lasting expansion of purchasing power runs into limits.

The second is the quality of credit. Access to financing can expand opportunities, but high-cost products, little transparency and recurring use for basic expenses can worsen financial fragility. Competition, information and the assessment of the ability to pay all need to improve.

The third is building wealth. A family that manages to save, finance its home on sustainable terms or build a financial reserve faces the unexpected with greater security. Prosperity is not just next month's consumption. It also involves the capacity to accumulate assets and reduce future vulnerabilities.

The fourth is financial education combined with real opportunities. Information helps people make better decisions. But no budgeting advice replaces enough income to meet basic needs. Individual responsibility and economic conditions need to move forward together.

These four fronts don't fit in an advertising campaign and can't be solved with a single measure. They require consistent policies, institutional coordination and results that can be tracked over the years.

## The question candidates need to answer

In a presidential election, it would be reasonable to expect clear proposals on how to structurally reduce the financial vulnerability of Brazilian families.

What commitments will be made to raise productivity and disposable income? How can access to sustainable credit be expanded? Which instruments can support building wealth? And which indicators will make it possible to verify whether families are actually better off?

These are objective questions. They deserve equally objective answers.

The debate should not be limited to the number of people who benefit from a given program. It should also examine how many manage, afterwards, to regain financial autonomy and reduce the need for further bailouts.

There is a fundamental difference between managing a hardship and building the conditions for it to stop existing.

Brazilian consumers have already shown their capacity to adapt. Companies are responding to their new choices. Retail is reorganizing channels, prices, products and sales formats.

The country now needs to show it can turn this adaptation into opportunity.

Because an economy does not build lasting prosperity just by helping families pay what they owe.

It builds prosperity when it expands the conditions for them to work, produce, choose, save, invest and carry out their plans.

Renegotiating debt can buy breathing room. Brazil's challenge is to restore people's prospects.

CEO ONE · https://ceoone.com.br