RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The value of the commercial dollar dropped 0.71 percent on Friday, February 14th, to R$4.3010, following another Central Bank intervention.
In the morning, the institution sold US$1 billion in foreign exchange swap contracts. In practice, the operation increases the money supply, since the Central Bank offers contracts that compensate investors for the exchange variation.
The day before, the same operation had been conducted to contain the rise in the US currency, which exceeded R$4.38. The upward trajectory with the drop in interest rates in Brazil had been promoted by the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, who, on Wednesday night, February 12th, said the dollar was somewhat high.
The IBOVESPA stock market index dropped 1.11 percent, to 114,380 points. Investors fear the economic impacts of the coronavirus, as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise.
Also contributing to the index’s decline was the poor level of economic activity in 2019 – the IBC-Br (Central Bank’s Economic Activity Index) rose only 0.89 percent last year, compared with an increase of 1.34 percent in 2018.