RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s central bank did not announce so far a usual auction to roll over currency swaps that are set to expire early next month, a sign it wants to slow recent gains in the real.
The bank has so far rolled over slightly more than 85 percent of the $10.1bn worth of expiring currency swaps, derivatives it has been regularly selling to investors who demand protection against currency losses.
The regular sale of swaps has been part of a successful central bank programme of intervention in the foreign exchange market, which has helped the real BRL= gain more than 7 percent so far this year. Earlier this week, policymakers extended the intervention program without changes until the end of the year, causing the real to rally past the level of 2.2 per dollar for the first time in more than two months. Reuters
