RIO DE JANEIRO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian Central Bank suspended on Tuesday its currency swap contracts after over a month of continuous efforts to boost the real against the U.S. dollar.
The Central Bank had been offering swap contracts since May 11 in a move to bring the value of the U.S. dollar down. The Brazilian currency, the real, registered this year a significant devaluation against the dollar, more than in the entire year of 2017.
Since May 11, the Brazilian Central Bank made a net injection of 39.6 billion U.S. dollars in the market.
Despite the end of the swap contracts, the exchange rate remained stable on Tuesday, closing at 3.74 reals per U.S. dollar. The Brazilian stock Bovespa also had a good day, with indicator Ibovespa rising 2.26 percent in the day, the best daily result in four months.
The real's value has been dropping consistently in the past few months, and the currency accumulated a devaluation of 18.4 percent this year, after having devaluated only 1.99 percent in 2017.
The Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to make any changes in the country's annual basic interest rate Selic.
