The Central Bank wants individuals to have accounts in dollars in Brazil to facilitate remittances to those who have debts or obligations to pay in the American currency. It also wants people to be able to keep accounts in reais in other countries, said the president of the monetary authority, Roberto Campos Neto, on Wednesday (29).
The new measure is part of a currency conversion project. It also integrates Agenda BC#, the new name of the old BC+ Agenda, promoted by the management of Ilan Goldfajn.
Currency convertibility makes it easier to exchange one currency for another. It depends on the confidence that the parties involved in the operation have in the value of the two currencies and the economies of the countries.
For this, the first step is to change the legislation that sets the exchange rules in Brazil to make it more flexible.
Otávio Damaso, director of the Central Bank, points out that in some sectors of the economy, it is already allowed to have a foreign account in the country, such as insurance, infrastructure, oil, and gas. With the new rules, any company would have that possibility.
The measure would allow, for example, an exporter to receive the dollar payment directly in Brazil instead of keeping the money in a bank abroad and wait for the best moment of the exchange to repatriate the resources. As a result, the costs and risks of currency exposure would be reduced.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon