Brasília – Brazil already sold US$ 14.5 billion of its foreign currency reserves since the worsening of the international financial crisis, in September, up until March 02. The information was supplied today (05) by the president of the Central Bank (CB), Henrique Meirelles, during the International Seminar on Development, promoted by the Council for Social and Economic Development (CDES).
In total, net injection of dollars by the Central Bank totalled US$ 27.4 billion, part of which were destined for loans and should return to the reserves later on. Besides, the institution injected US$ 33 billion by means of foreign exchange derivative operations (swap).
The president of the CB also stated that export financing is in a process of recovery. According to him, in January this year, the renewal rate of advance on exchange contracts (ACC), which was 75%, is now 95%.
“This is a market that is already starting to recover,” he evaluated. Another information supplied by Meirelles was that clearance of compulsory deposits (funds that banks have to deposit at the CB) reached 99.8 billion reals (US$ 41.7 billion) up until February 27.
Whenever the Central Bank clears the mandatory funds, there is more money left for banks to loan. This set of measures was necessary because, as a result of the international crisis, there was a scarcity of credit.
According to Henrique Meirelles, before the crisis, in August, compulsory deposits totalled 259.4 billion reals (US$ 108.4 billion). According to him, the accumulated funds at that time enabled the CB to supply capital to the segments most harmed by the crisis in Brazil, such as small- and medium-sized banks, and exporters.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
