The US dollar continues to dominate, with 80.42% of total foreign exchange reserves

The yuan has overtaken the euro to become the second most important currency in Brazil's foreign exchange reserves by 2022, according to a report published by the Central Bank, as reported by Brasil 247, a partner of TV BRICS.

Until 2019 the yuan was practically absent from Brazil's foreign exchange reserves. However, by the end of 2022, the Chinese currency came to represent 5.37% of the Brazilian Central Bank's holdings, exceeding the euro's share of 4.74%. In 2021, the yuan's share was 4.99 percent and the euro's 5.04 percent.

Earlier this week the Brazilian Agency for Export and Investment Promotion (Apex-Brasil) reported that China and Brazil had taken another step towards advancing trade and investment negotiations between the two countries, which will be carried out directly in their national currencies.

Two initial agreements were signed on 29 March in Beijing, during the Brazil-China Business Forum.

The first establishes that the Brazilian bank BBM, controlled by the Chinese Bank of Communications (BOCOM), will join the interbank payment system of China (CIPS), an alternative in the Asian country to the international SWIFT system.

"The expectation is to reduce the costs of commercial transactions with the direct exchange between reals and yuan. The bank will be the first direct participant of this system in South America," points out a statement issued by the agency.

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