RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil's central bank on Friday announced measures to boost credit in the country's ailing economy, one week after keeping its benchmark interest rate at its highest level in over two years to fight inflation.
The bank said in a statement it was freeing up an estimated 30 billion reais ($13.5 billion) in the financial system through changes to banks' reserve requirements.
The move "aims at improving the distribution of liquidity in the economy," given a recent slowdown in credit and relatively low levels of bad loans, the bank said.
In a separate statement, the central bank said it was adjusting minimal capital requirements for retail credit operations.
The decision aims at reviewing macroprudential measures that were implemented as of 2010, when policymakers sought to slow down the pace of credit growth in Brazil, according to the statement.
In monetary policy parlance, macroprudential measures involve alterations in policy separate from interest rate changes.
In Brazil, the macroprudential policies of recent years involved modifications of credit regulations and taxes on financial operations.
Comments
Comments are closed.