Brazil Launches Desenrola 3.0 to Buy $27B in Old Family Debts

The Brazilian government unveiled Desenrola 3.0 on Friday, a program targeting 150 billion reais in family debts overdue by two to four-and-a-half years. Finance Minister Dario Durigan and Planning Minister Bruno Moretti announced the initiative alongside President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in São Paulo.

The state will act as a bulk buyer, acquiring debt portfolios from banks and non-bank creditors through a reverse auction where the deepest discount wins. The Treasury or a federal bank like Caixa or Banco do Brasil will execute the purchases, capped at 15 billion reais budgeted for 2027 and 2028.

“We will hold a purchase auction, so financial institutions will declare their interest in selling their portfolios; the one that sells the portfolio with the largest discount wins.”

Discounts of at least 90 percent on the face value will be passed directly to borrowers, who can settle the remaining balance upfront or in installments. The first auction round in November will cover credit card and unsecured personal loans up to 10,000 reais each.

The program follows the Novo Desenrola Brasil, which renegotiated debts for lower-income earners. Current central bank data shows 592 billion reais in delinquent debt affecting 83.9 million people, with 300 billion reais overdue more than two years.

Officials framed the measure as part of a broader package that includes a ban on online betting, aiming to relieve households where 29.8 percent have overdue bills and 12.3 percent say they cannot pay at all.