| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MAY 10, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Four Months in the Life of a Currency JAN. 6 Minais Gerais Governor Itamar Franco announces a moratorium on debt owed the federal government. Stock market falls 5% the next day. JAN. 13 Government allows real to devalue 8%. Central Bank President Gustavo Franco resigns; Francisco Lopes replaces him. JAN. 15 Government stops intervening to support real, letting it float freely. Stock market soars 33%. JAN. 29 Black Friday. Real plummets. Brazilians crowd banks to withdraw cash. FEB. 11-17 Brazil shuts down for Carnival. FEB. 2 Lopes resigns. Fraga appointed. MAR. 2-3 With companies obliged to pay foreign debt, demand for dollars soars. Inflation fear grows. Congress confirms Fraga. MAR. 4 Fraga hikes interest rates from 39% to 45% to curb inflation. MAR. 11-16 Fraga impresses bankers in visits to New York, London, and Paris. Sao Paulo stock market soars 11.7% in one day. APR. 14 With inflation threat subsiding, Fraga slashes interest rates to 34%. APR. 22 Brazil returns to the market with a $2 billion five-year bond issue at 11.9%. Four days later, it issues $1 billion more, and on Apr. 28, cuts rates to 32%. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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Pulling Brazil Back from the Brink TABLE: Four Months in the Life of a Currency CHART: The Real's Wild Ride INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
