Exchange Rate Exposure, Foreign Currency Debt and the Use of Derivatives: Evidence from Brazil

Abstract

This paper studies the exchange rate exposure and its determinants for a sample of non-financial Brazilian companies from 1996 to 2006. The results show that more than 25% of the firms in the sample have significant exchange rate exposure. Moreover, the results indicate that the number of firms exposed is higher in periods of crisis and under a fixed exchange rate regime. In addition, the results point out that although companies’ international activities, operational hedging and financial policies are important determinants of firms’ foreign exposure, the changes in companies’ exposure that took place when the country moved from a fixed to a floating exchange rate regime were mainly driven by changes in companies’ foreign currency borrowing and the use of derivatives that occurred in the period.