The Central Bank reported this Friday (31) that federal state-owned companies recorded a deficit of R$7.8 billion in the first half of this year. ?The term "deficit" means that the combined expenditure of these state-owned companies was greater than the revenue they managed to generate in the year. ??This is the worst result for the period in the BC's historical series, which begins in 2002. Until then, the biggest gap for this period had occurred in 2025 (R$ -3.9 billion, without correction for inflation). ??The result, in this year's partial, also surpasses the record negative result for a closed year, 2024, when a deficit of R$ 6.73 billion was recorded. The Central Bank series does not consider Petrobras, Eletrobras or companies in the financial sector (public banks). The BC recalls that Petrobras and Eletrobras were excluded from the calculation of federal state-owned companies in 2009, but explains that the historical series from previous years was revised based on the new methodology — therefore being valid from 2002 onwards. This calculation includes companies such as Correios, Emgepron, Hemobrás, Casa da Moeda, Infraero, Serpro, Dataprev and Emgea. The Central Bank's concept only considers the variation in debt, a concept widely used in international fiscal analyses, while the government uses the concept known as "above the line" (revenue minus expenses, not counting debt interest). ??In the 2027 Budget Guidelines Law project, sent to the National Congress in April this year, the federal government admits that federal state-owned companies, in deficit since 2023, will continue to be in the red until 2030. ?? According to the Independent Fiscal Institution (IFI), linked to the Federal Senate, the financial indicators confirm a "noticeable deterioration" in the financial health of a "relevant part" of federal state-owned companies — which increases the risk for the National Treasury. "This deterioration is not uniform nor does it result from a single cause, but the data collected by the IFI allows us to identify patterns that deserve attention from the point of view of fiscal management", added the body, through the July Fiscal Monitoring Report. Correios ??The bad result of federal state-owned companies has been aggravated, mainly, by the situation of Correios, which is going through a serious fiscal crisis, with a sharp worsening of its financial result in 2025, when a loss of R$ 8.5 billion was recorded. In the case of Correios, the federal government itself admits that the state-owned company may continue to have a worsening economic and financial situation, following the trend observed in the last two years, despite the restructuring plan in force. "Among the measures of the aforementioned [financial restructuring] plan are cost reduction, with measures to clean up its supplementary pension plans, restructuring of health plans, voluntary dismissal programs, sale of idle properties and tariff readjustment, among others, but the tendency is for the company to still show high losses in 2026", says the government, in the 2027 LDO project. The state-owned company contracted a loan of R$12 billion signed with a consortium of banks in December 2025, guaranteed by the National Treasury. In February, the National Monetary Council (CMN) gave space for Correios to be able to obtain a new loan with guarantees from the Union. According to the decision, Correios will be able to seek an additional R$8 billion in loans. To face the financial hole, the government authorized, in May this year, the state-owned company to sell insurance, capitalization bonds and operate in the telephone market. The idea is for the company to enter into agreements with financial institutions to offer services.