The impact of the Central Bank's measures is expected to reach R$ 25 billion.

In the case of the release of required reserves announced today, one of the measures announcedThis allows banks to use up to 60% of the compulsory reserve requirement related to term deposits to contract new credit operations and purchase credit portfolios from other institutions. The measure can stimulate lending because, if the bank does not carry out new operations or purchase portfolios, the money will be returned to the Central Bank without the bank receiving any remuneration.

In July, this percentage had been set at 50%, when the release of compulsory deposits—funds that banks are required to keep deposited with the Central Bank—reached R$ 30 billion. Of this total, approximately half has already entered the market, an impact that adds to the R$ 10 billion expected to enter the market with the new measures on compulsory deposits.

In its list of stimulus measures, the Central Bank included new criteria regarding the minimum capital requirement for credit risk. This requirement is the amount of resources that bank shareholders must set aside for each credit operation. With this measure, approximately R$ 15 billion was released, with the potential to generate new credit operations of up to R$ 140 billion, according to the head of the Central Bank's Prudential and Exchange Regulation Department, Caio Ferreira.

The Central Bank reinstated the risk weighting factor at 75% for all retail credit operations, regardless of term. Ferreira recalled that in 2010, there was a need to define stricter rules, mainly because credit operations had very long terms and inadequate guarantees. At that time, this risk weighting factor reached up to 300% in some cases. Currently, according to Ferreira, banks are more selective in granting credit and therefore there is no risk to the stability of the financial system.

Another measure taken by the Central Bank is to recognize that payroll-deducted loans (installments automatically deducted from paychecks) for public employees have a lower risk due to job stability. In this case, the risk weighting factor dropped from 75% to 50% for credit operations granted to federal public employees. "If more capital is required for an operation that has less risk, the institution is being penalized," said Ferreira.

The Central Bank also announced today a reduction in the percentage that banks must reserve when issuing letters of credit guaranteeing payment in foreign trade operations and also in bidding processes. In the case of bidding processes, the bank guarantees, for example, the payment of fines if the company fails to comply with the contract.

In the case of new vehicle financing, the Central Bank has determined that, for the 60% deduction of the compulsory reserve requirement, the increase in credit operations compared to the average in the first half of 2014 will be considered. In other words, banks will have to carry out more vehicle financing operations to qualify for the deduction. "To benefit from the measure, they have to do more than they did before," said the head of the Central Bank's Banking Operations and Payment Systems Department, Daso Coimbra.

The Central Bank also determined that institutions can use financial bills to offset required deposits. In this case, the amount of these financial instruments relative to the position on July 25, 2014, will be considered.