Brazilian government will evaluate measures on the SVB case throughout the day, says Haddad – 03/13/2023 – Market

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad (PT) said this Monday (13) that it will be necessary to assess throughout the day whether the Central Bank will have to take any action as a result of the bankruptcy of SVB (Silicon Valley Bank), the 16th largest US bank.

While acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, Haddad says that “apparently” the episode will not trigger a systemic crisis. The minister, however, recognizes that it is still not possible to estimate the size of the problem with what is known so far about the case.

“The Fed’s action over the weekend was positive, guaranteeing depositors. This is the first measure that the monetary authority takes to avoid a bank run. It is not a first-line bank, it is a regional bank, which operates very in Silicon Valley, with mismatched portfolios”, he said.

“I don’t know if it will generate a systemic crisis, apparently not. I haven’t seen anyone yet treat this episode like Lehman Brothers. But the fact is that what happened is serious,” he added.

Haddad says he stayed in contact with BC president Roberto Campos Neto over the weekend and with representatives of the national financial system to monitor the situation. The head of the autarchy was in Switzerland, where he participated in meetings of the BIS (Bank for International Settlements) – the “central bank of central banks”.

“With Roberto Campos Neto returning from the BIS to lead the Central Bank, let’s see if the monetary authority in Brazil will have to take some action, due to the effects on the peripheral economies. throughout the day,” he said.

The minister also said that he evaluated as positive the emergency actions taken by the Fed (Federal Reserve), the US central bank, to try to placate the collapse of the SVB and prevent a broader financial crisis.

US authorities announced on Sunday (12) that all SVB customers will be able to withdraw their deposits in full. Account holders at Signature, the New York bank whose bankruptcy was announced two days after the SVB, will also have their deposits guaranteed.

Simultaneously, the Fed announced the creation of an emergency program to finance financial institutions, in order to guarantee that they can “meet the needs of all their clients”.