Rousseff Said to Be More Worried About Inflation Than Brazilian Real Gains

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is more concerned about containing inflation than stemming a rally in the nation’s currency, said a government official familiar with her views.

The government isn’t weighing any further steps to stem gains by the real, the best-performing currency in Latin America over the last six months, said the official who can’t be named because he isn’t authorized to discuss her policies publicly.

Valor Economico newspaper reported today that Rousseff has not authorized her finance minister, Guido Mantega, to adopt measures to curb the 7.7 percent gains against the U.S. dollar since Jan. 7. The Sao Paulo-based newspaper, citing government officials it did not name, said Rousseff considers the rally a welcome boost to the government’s fight against inflation.

Brazil’s dollar purchases have fallen every month since March, according to the central bank. The bank bought $2.3 billion in June, down from $8.4 billion in March.

Central bank President Alexandre Tombini told a senate hearing July 5 that the country’s foreign currency reserves are at an “adequate” level.