Brazil’s Real Hits All-Time Low as Spending Cuts Disappoint
A plan to cut government spending falls flat with investors.
The Brazilian real dropped to an all-time low as the government’s proposed measures to cut $12 billion in spending underwhelmed investors. The currency is down 19% this year, the worst among majors.
Brazil Finance Minister Fernando Haddad unveiled a long-sought plan to cut 70 billion reais ($11.8 billion) from public spending through 2026 as investors’ fiscal concerns sink assets from the currency to stocks.
The measures include limits to minimum wage growth and cap high earnings for public workers. The government also decided to exempt monthly salaries of up to 5,000 reais from income tax, which is expected to produce an impact of 35 billion reais on public accounts, Haddad told journalists on Thursday. That move is expected to be compensated by rising levies for monthly incomes above 50,000 reais.
The real fell as much as 1.1% at the open on Thursday to 5.99 per USD, weakening past the previous intraday low of 5.97 per dollar seen in May 2020 during the Covid pandemic. It’s down 19% this year, the worst in emerging markets.
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Japan's core inflation accelerated in November as rising food and fuel costs hit households, data showed on Friday, keeping the central bank under pressure to raise interest rates.
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