Dollar rises to R$5.19 amid discussions on inflation target

Discussions about a possible change in the inflation target put pressure on the financial market this Tuesday (14). The dollar, which had started the day in decline, rose and came close to R$5.20 again. The stock exchange fell by almost 1%, after starting the session on a high. The commercial dollar ended this Tuesday sold at R$ 5.198, with an increase of R$ 0.022 (+0.42%). The price fell to R$5.13 just before 11:00 am, but reversed the movement and rose in the following hours, reacting to the possibility of raising the inflation target for 2023. At the high of the day, around 2:50 pm, it reached R$ 5.22. The US currency accumulates a high of 2.38% in February. In 2023, the currency drops 1.55%. In the stock market, the day was also tense. The B3 Ibovespa index closed at 107,849 points, down 0.91%. The only reason why the decline was not greater is that Banco do Brasil shares rose 2.34%, after the institution disclosed record profits of R$31.8 billion last year. The market had started the day reacting relatively well to the announcement of inflation to the consumer in the United States, which reached 0.5% in January and accumulated 6.4% in 12 months. The numbers came out as expected, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed, US Central Bank) will raise basic interest rates by 0.25 percentage points at the end of March, confirming the deceleration of interest rate hikes in the country. However, internal factors increased the pressure on the financial market during the afternoon, with the possibility that the inflation target in Brazil for 2023 will be changed by more than 0.25 percentage points. The topic can be discussed on Thursday (16) at a meeting of the National Monetary Council (CMN). Currently, the official inflation target is set at 3.25%, with a plus or minus 1.5 percentage point tolerance.*With information from Reuters

Agência Brasil