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Why the Brazilian Real gained ground in 2022, despite the war in Ukraine

The Brazilian currency has been the world's best-performing in 2022, despite a multitude of uncertainty factors

currency dollar — Photo: Shutterstock

Mar 26, 2022 16:45 4 min read (Updated: Mar 26, 2022 18:17)

Even with a stubborn economic crisis in Brazil, uncertainties regarding upcoming elections, and the war in Ukraine, the Brazilian Real extended its positive streak against the U.S. Dollar to an eighth straight day on Friday.

At the end of the day, the exchange rate was USD 1 : BRL 4.7432, on par with the pre-pandemic level seen in early March 2020.

Excellent performance. The Brazilian currency continues to have the best performance in 2022 out of 38 currencies followed by the International Monetary Fund, gaining 15 percent in value against the dollar since the beginning of the year.

In addition, a survey by investment platform Economatica shows that the Dollar suffered the biggest devaluation against the Real in any quarter since Q2 2009.
USD devalued 12.72 percent against the Brazilian currency since the beginning of 2022 in the Ptax sale reference — the median of all quotations calculated by the Central Bank with exchange operators.