Brazil as a debtor, 1824–19311

SUMMARY Internal rates of return of Brazilian loans floated between 1824 and 1931 fell below those of British and US government consols and bonds only for some of the loans floated after the beginning of the twentieth century. Higher volatility of yearly rates of return was rewarded by higher returns for all Brazilian Federal loans. Their spreads over consols in 1824-1943 are compared to those of Argentina and Chile and of Brazilian state and municipal loans for 1888-1930. In spite of some deterioration over time, Brazilian loans had a better performance than suggested by the literature, especially in the 1920s.