29/04/2010- The Brazilian real opened stronger against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday 28th April leading investors to predict a central bank rate hike in interest rates to lure foreign investors to Latin America’s largest economy. On the BM&FBovespa exchange the real opened at BRL1.7550 to the dollar after closing on Tuesday at BRL1.7670.
Higher interest rates in Brazil typically have the effect of attracting heavy foreign inflows from investors seeking better rates of return. Private buyers sent £30.1m to Brazil from the UK in 2009 for property related purposes, according to leading foreign exchange supplier Moneycorp, up from just £4million in 2004. 2010 has started even more strongly: since 1 January 2010, Moneycorp says that real estate enquiries have increased 40% on last year.
Moneycorp says many people have been seduced by the stunning coastline, friendly people and bargain properties to be had in Brazil in recent years. But anyone who has seriously looked into buying into Brazil will have also discovered how difficult and expensive it can be to transfer money there.
The Brazilian Real is a restricted currency and cannot be sent into Brazil. Buyers have to send another foreign currency into the country which has to then be converted upon arrival – usually at a poor rate of exchange. Money sent to Brazil must be registered with the Central Bank of Brazil (Banco Central do Brasil). And if you don’t correctly register your money, complications may arise when the time comes to repatriate your funds. Transfers are also often slow and securing a guaranteed delivery date can be difficult. It is estimated that UK property buyers can lose out on up to as much as £5-10,000 on their transactions.
Moneycorp recognised these obstacles and last year set up a partnership with Brazilian Bank, Banco Rendimento. This bank is well known in Brazil as a specialist in foreign exchange products and is one of the largest suppliers of cash into the market, importing and exporting a wide variety of currencies. This partnership has enabled us to offer all buyers of Brazilian property a hassle-free international transfer service.
Moneycorp fix the Brazilian real rate of exchange, so you will know exactly how many reals will be delivered – and when. The service reduces the time between the transfer and the receipt of funds and they guarantee that each exchange transaction will be registered with the Central Bank so you won’t encounter problems when you repatriate funds in the future.
Moneycorp’s partnership with Banco Rendimento also makes it easy for buyers to open a local ‘non-resident’ Brazilian bank account from the UK. Rental income, for example, can then be easily received in the local real currency.
So now there really is no excuse not to go ahead and buy that dream property in Brazil. If you would like to find out more about the service visit /www.moneycorp.com or http://twitter.com/brazilianreal
