Brazil

By Win Thin Brazil loan growth continues to pick up and it belies the notion that macroprudential measures are having any discernible effect on the economy. Total loans rose 1.4% m/m in February vs. 0.5% m/m in January, bringing the y/y…

By Win Thin Local Brazil analysts are saying that new measures to curb currency appreciation are basically ready to go. Finance Minister Mantega has reportedly not decided yet if he is going to release details today or not, and that he is…

By Michael Pettis On Friday the US Treasury released its presumably semi-annual (it was due last October) report to Congress on currency issues, and in it refrained from calling any of the countries under review “currency…

By Win Thin Brazil central bank hiked rates 50 bp late yesterday to 11.25%, as expected, though some chatter was heard about a possible 75 bp move. It said the move was the beginning of an adjustment process that along with “macro…

By Win Thin Brazil announced that it is allowing its Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) to trade currencies and currency derivatives (futures).  The SWF is managed by the Treasury, and so this gives the authorities another channel through…

By Win Thin After warning of further measures to fight BRL appreciation, Brazil unveiled yet another policy measure in its toolbox. The central bank introduced reserve requirements on local bank dollar short positions this morning in an…

by Win Thin Brazil central bank’s quarterly inflation report was quite hawkish, and caught the market off-guard after the decidedly more dovish minutes from the December 7/8 COPOM meeting were reported last week. In those minutes, the…

Minutes from the December 7/8 COPOM meeting in Brazil are worth commenting on.  The central bank put a lot of weight on its decision to hike reserve requirements December 3, calling it a “fast and powerful” tool to contain domestic…

The Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega continues to worry about the flood of money coming from Europe and the US and has said Brazil will take more steps to defend its currency. Mr. Mantega was quoted saying "With the situation…

by Win Thin Chatter about possible Brazil rate hike today is picking up after November IPCA inflation rose 0.83% m/m and 5.63% y/y. The y/y rate is the highest since February 2009, when the SELIC policy rate was 12.75%. While there is a…