Number of companies filing for bankruptcy nearly doubles in Brazil

A total of 571 companies in Brazil filed for bankruptcy in the first four months of 2016, up 97.6 percent against the same period in 2015, a consultancy firm said on Wednesday.

Local consultancy firm Serasa Experian said in a report that this was a record high going back to 2006.

Between January and April, the largest amount of requests came from micro and small-sized enterprises, totaling 327, while medium-sized companies presented 149 bankruptcy petitions.

In April alone, 162 companies filed for bankruptcy, slightly more than 158 companies in March and much more than 98 cases in April 2015.

The firm attributed the increase in bankruptcy to the current economic recess in Brazil. Brazil's economy contracted 3.8 percent in 2015 and is expected to contract 3.9 percent in 2016.

The South American nation is also facing a high unemployment and inflation, and an interest rate as high as 14.25 percent.