SAO PAULO, May 3 (UPI) -- Brazil's currency closed Tuesday with its strongest showing against the dollar in nearly three years.
The real finished the day's trading at 2.493 to the greenback, the strongest the currency has been since May 21, 2002. Since the beginning of this year the dollar has lost more than 6 percent of its value against the real.
Brazil's Central Bank continued its hands off policy Tuesday, despite calls from Brazilian businessmen and economists to control the real's gains.
Some speculate a stronger real could hurt Brazilian exports. However President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday the real's gains were not affecting Brazilian products.
Lula also said the United States was responsible for its currency's slide, citing the dollar's loss against many of the world's currencies.
