Brazil Raises Tax on Foreign Fixed-Income Investments

Brazil doubled a tax it charges foreigners on investment in fixed-income securities in a bid to stem gains in the real, which reached its strongest in more than two years last week.

The government of Latin America’s biggest economy will raise its so-called IOF tax on fixed-income investments by foreigners to 4 percent from 2 percent beginning tomorrow, Finance Minister Guido Mantega told reporters in Brasilia today. Brazil first slapped a 2 percent tax on foreign investments in October 2009.