Brazil Eases Reserve Requirement on Banks to Buoy Currency
This article is for subscribers only.
Brazil’s central bank reduced reserve requirements on short dollar positions held by local banks as it steps up efforts to buoy the real, the worst performing major currency this year.
Starting Dec. 20, banks will be required to deposit in cash at the central bank 60 percent of their short positions in U.S. dollars above $3 billion, up from a previous limit of no more than $1 billion or any amount in excess of its capital base, the central bank said in a statement. The real strengthened 0.2 percent to 2.0992 per U.S. dollar at 1:10 p.m. local time.