Brazil’s Real to Surpass 1.50 Per Dollar, Booth Says

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s real may appreciate “way past” 1.50 per U.S. dollar next year as investors flock to Latin America’s largest economy, said Ashmore Group Plc’s Jerome Booth.

Brazil’s benchmark interest rate may climb by 2 percentage points next year from a record low of 8.75 percent, Booth, chief of research at the London-based firm that oversees $31 billion of assets, said in a telephone interview.

“Brazilian rates are going to go up, but they’re not going to go up the 400 basis points that some people think,” Booth said. “The currency I would expect to rally considerably. Way past 1.50.”

...“The perception of risk needs changing radically,” Booth said. “The investor that is thinking of maybe putting 5 percent in emerging markets needs to rethink and realize that being 95 percent in developed markets is very risky.”

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