Brazil extends tax on foreign loans

[March 02, 2012]  BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil has extended a tax on short-term foreign loans in a bid to curb the strengthening of the country's currency.

A government decree extended from two years to three years the 6 percent tax Brazil levies on those loans.

The measure was published Thursday in the official gazette.

Finance Minister Guido Mantega says the inflow of foreign loans has strengthened Brazil's real by 12 percent so far this year, making its exports more expensive and its imports cheaper.

President Dilma Rousseff said in a speech that "the monetary tsunami caused by developed countries" has created "unequal conditions of competition."

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.