Tiago Dias, who was speaking at a meeting with journalists in Luanda, where he commented on the evolution of the foreign exchange market, assumed that the regulator "had to act" in situations that "were absurd", when asked whether the BNA intervenes or has direct contacts with banks to withdraw certain offers from the trading platform.
"What we noticed, in the periods immediately following the strong reduction in the supply of foreign currency, were speculative actions and obviously we, as a regulator, supervised all operations. There were situations that we understood were absurd and we had to act," he said, noting that the market has rules, established by the supervisor, and that traders must follow the market code of conduct.
"But we haven't seen this type of situation for almost five months now", highlighted the governor, indicating that the kwanza exchange rate is stable, but not fixed.
Tiago Dias also stated that banks continue to buy currency, although in a lower volume than in the past, as they went from an average of 1.2 billion dollars to the current 600 million dollars.
"Banks can tell their customers that they buy less, but they cannot say that they have not been buying currency," said the central bank official, commenting on the recurring complaints about access to foreign currency and difficulties in transferring money abroad.
"We are sometimes surprised when commercial banks buy currency, either on the platform [Bloomberg, where foreign currency is traded], or from their customers, and then say they no longer buy currency. But we look at the statistics and we see that they have purchased substantial volumes and yet they tell their customers that they cannot satisfy their needs," he commented.
Tiago Dias highlighted that the BNA does not sell currency and that the currency traded on the market does not originate from the central bank, except in exceptional situations.
"Our perspective after meetings with operators in the oil and diamond sector is that the currency supply remains at 600 million dollars per month", he indicated, recognizing that if there were conditions for the market to offer "it would be good" because it would alleviate the rise in prices.
Regarding the exchange rate differential practiced in the formal market (banking) compared to the informal market (kinguilas), he considered that it results from the fact that many operators in the informal sector, which has a significant weight in the economy, do not have access to banking products and services.
"Until this happens, it is obvious that we have many transactions taking place in the informal market", which results in an increase in this differential.
