The return of oil companies to direct sales on the foreign exchange market and the contraction, by around 67 per cent in relation to the previous year, of revenue from oil sales are some of the reasons that justify the drop in the total volume of foreign exchange sold at auction by the BNA, refers to the Expansion.
However, there was an increase in foreign exchange sales by oil sector operators and other exporters. According to the Expansion, foreign exchange sales of the oil companies and the market (except the diamond sector) in the first five months of the year reached 3045 million dollars.
After the accounts were closed, between January and May, the market sold 718 million dollars more than the BNA. "The purchases from the BNA correspond to about 50 percent of the debts acquired" by the bank, explained the bank's source to Expansão.
April of this year was the month that registered the biggest drop: the BNA sold only 188.37 million dollars in auctions, with the sale of foreign exchange falling by about 80 percent compared to the 840.10 million sold in April 2019.
These falls, according to the same source, are related to the adjustments that the central bank makes to sales procedures: "The BNA makes changes to the procedures for selling oil companies, so that today they can sell directly to the banks, which in itself means that the BNA does not need to sell as much as in the past".
The BNA's monthly bulletin, referring to May, also indicates that in addition to the amount bought by the banks at the BNA auctions, they also bought foreign currency from other sources. For example, the banks bought 38.68 million dollars from the diamond sector. In addition, the banks also purchased 58.92 million dollars from other sectors, except for diamonds and oil.
Thus, during the first five months of the year, the banks bought a total of 3.05 billion dollars and 2.33 billion dollars from the BNA.
The entry of the oil companies into direct foreign exchange sales will allow BNA to reduce its share of the foreign exchange market and focus on overseeing transactions. According to the same newspaper, the bank's strategy is to turn to the market when it is necessary to buy foreign currency to strengthen the Net International Reserves.
