Brasília, 18 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Brazilian public debt on bond markets rose 2.25% in June, to R$653.75 billion (US$229.3 billion), compared to R$639.39 billion (US$224.2 billion) in May.

The secretary of the National Treasury, Eduardo Guardia, reports that the government redeemed (US$5.1 billion) in public debt bonds in June, which would normally have reduced the size of the debt. However, because of currency devaluation (the dollar rose 12.78% in June and some bonds are exchange rate linked) it got bigger.

"Today we do not have administrative problems with our debt. The economy is in a volatile state and we have to deal with that," explained Guardia, adding that because the government's fiscal policy is consistent, the tendency is for the debt to get smaller. (AB)