Yes, the pendulum of market prices is a cruel mistress. Two years ago, Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega was voicing concerns about the developed economies declaring a currency war on the emerging markets through the use of its quantitative easing programs. The Brazilians reacted by imposing various forms of exchange controls to slow the inflow of “hot money,” as well as cutting Brazilian interest rates. Now that the Brazilian Real has depreciated by 50% since August 2011, the Brazilians believe that they have had enough and want to stem the depreciation because of the inflationary effects of a rapid depreciation. The Brazilian Central Bank (BCB) raised interest rates again last night by 0.5% to 9% in an act to help end the REAL‘s recent downward move. Last week, the BCB announced a large currency intervention package of $60 billion involving swaps and loans to the markets. This program ensures that the Brazilian financial markets will have a steady stream of dollars and will prevent a fear among investors that Brazil will not be able to meet investor demands for currency redemptions.
Posts Tagged ‘Guido Mantega’
Notes From Underground: Juncker Bonds, Eurospeak for Junk Bonds
December 9, 2010The biggest story making the rounds is the op-ed in Wednesday’s Financial Times by two European heavyweights: Finance Ministers Giulio Tremonti of Italy and Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg. In the FT piece, they argue for the ECB and Ecofin to get behind a push for a EUROBOND that is backed by the entire Eurozone and guaranteed by its coffers. While a good idea in theory, the Germans immediately said NEIN to the idea as they realized that they would be the one holding the bag for the entire project.
Notes From Underground: G-20 was in Korea looking for its Soul
October 24, 2010The statements coming from G-20 central bank chiefs and finance ministers in South Korea tried to calm the markets nervousness about currency wars. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega didn’t attend as a form of mild protest to what he felt was previous inconsistencies between words and actions. The U.S. had put forth a proposal that was leaked to the media ahead of formal proceeding for some numerical target on current account surpluses and deficits. In the final communique no formal targets were established.