BRASILIA: Brazilian banks agreed on Tuesday to compensate depositors for losses from government plans that tackled hyperinflation in the 1980s and 1990s, settling over a million legal disputes that have hung over the country's banking system.
A statement by the federal solicitor general's office did not disclose the total value of reimbursements foreseen in the agreement with associations representing banks, depositors, consumers and the central bank.
Depositors who are owed up to 5,000 reais ($1,510) will be fully reimbursed, the statement said. Liabilities surpassing that value will suffer a haircut ranging from 8 percent to 19 percent.
Reuters had reported in November that banks were likely to agree on reimbursing a total of around 10 billion reais, far below initial central bank estimates of up to 342 billion reais.
Fitch Ratings said earlier this month that such an agreement would be beneficial to the nation's banks, which have made enough provisions to cover the reimbursements.
Lenders Ita? Unibanco Holding SA, Banco Bradesco SA, Santander Brasil SA, Banco do Brasil SA and Caixa Econ?mica Federal have signed off on the deal, the solicitor general's office said. Other banks may opt in in as much as 90 days.
The agreement, subject to Supreme Court approval, seeks to compensate depositors for money they lost as a result of several measures undertaken in the final decades of the 20th century.
Under former Presidents Jos? Sarney and Fernando Collor, Brazil pursued several unorthodox policies to fight galloping inflation, such as confiscating investments in savings accounts.
Some investors had feared a larger-than-expected compensation could hurt the financial sector just as Brazil's recovering economy has begun to loosen credit.
Reimbursements will be paid in up to three years in as many as five installments, adjusted for the official inflation index.
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