Brasília – After reaching its highest value in five years, the US currency has depreciated this Thursday (22nd). The commercial dollar closed the day selling for R$ 2.4320, down 0.78%. The decline came amidst a series of Central Bank interventions to curb the exchange rate hike.
The currency did show a bullish trend at some moments. At around 11h20, the rate reached R$ 2.4537, but declined in the following hours. Around 13h45, at one point the dollar sold for R$ 2.4260, the lowest price for the day. However, the rate of decline slowed down throughout the afternoon, until the US dollar closed above R$ 2.43.
In the morning, the Central Bank rolled (renewed) US$ 986.4 million worth of dollar sale contracts on the futures market. The monetary authority also auctioned up to US$ 4 billion on the futures market, with commitment to repurchase, however the operation’s results will only be disclosed over the next few days.
Last Wednesday (21st), the confirmation that the Federal Reserve (Fed, the American Central Bank) plans on cutting monetary stimuli caused the dollar to close above R$ 2.45, the highest rate in nearly five years.
The Fed may raise interest rates and cut down on dollar injections into the world economy in case employment and production in America retain their rate of growth and drive away the signs of economic crisis which started five years ago. In case the government aid diminishes, the amount of dollars in circulation drops, causing the currency’s price to rise worldwide.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
