After two months of record high delinquency rates, nonperforming loans over 90 days past due in Brazil slipped 10 basis points to 5.8% of non-earmarked loans in November, according to data released by Banco Central do Brasil.

The nonperforming loan ratio for all loans in November came in at 3.8%, down 10 basis points from October but up 40 basis points up from a year ago, the central bank said.

Meanwhile, total credit operations in November grew by around 0.3% from the prior month to about 3.104 trillion Brazilian reais; compared to the year-ago period, however, lending was still down 2.3%.

The central bank now expects the country's credit market will close 2016 with 3% drop in lending, Reuters reported Dec. 23 citing Banco Central do Brasil economist Tulio Maciel. However, Maciel expects credit to grow 2% in 2017.

For November, Brazil's credit-to-GDP ratio came to 49.5%, down 20 basis points from a revised 49.7% figure for October and 3.6 percentage points below November 2015, according to the central bank data.

As of Dec. 22, US$1 was equivalent to 3.32 Brazilian reais.