It’s not news that Brazil is a growing economic power, since it has the seventh-largest economy in the world and second largest in the Americas.

Here’s the news, though.

On Thursday, the Brazilian government announced that for the first time in history, Brazil has enough capital to pay off its entire dívida externa, or external debt. Not only will Brazil be able to pay off all of its foreign debts, but it will have US$4 billion left over after it pays. Between the Brazilian government and numerous Brazilian companies, the total external debt is US$197.7 billion.

This means that after years and years of being a debtor, Brazil has become a net foreign creditor, which should help boost foreign investment in Brazil.

The other news in Brazilian economics is that two of Brazil’s bolsas de valores, or stock markets, are merging. The Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (Bovespa) and the Bolsa de Mercadorias & Futuros (BM & F) combined will result in the fourth largest stock market in the world based on market value, and the second largest stock market in the Americas. The merged stock market will have a value of US$20.340 billion, more than the value of the New York Stock Exchange (Nyse Euronext), which has a market value of US$17.919 billion.
It looks like a good time to invest in Brazil!