Brazil's central bank has announced a $60bn plan to prop up the value of the national currency.
It comes as the Brazilian real nears a five-year low against the US dollar.
The real and other emerging market currencies have fallen steadily over the last three months on speculation of higher US interest rates.
The central bank said it would spend $500m a day on Mondays to Thursdays and $1bn on Fridays buying reais in the currency markets.
The Monday-to-Thursday interventions will target currency swap markets - financial derivatives used by companies and investors to hedge their currency exposure - while on Fridays, the central bank will buy the national currency directly in return for US dollars.
Does this mean that Brazil's great march in international economic influence is starting to falter?
A liberal’s disagreement with a socialist or social democrat comes down to this: we both seek equality, but the only equality a liberal thinks is worth striving for is an equality of freedom. A liberal’s disagreement with conservatives comes down to this: we both seek freedom, but a liberal believes no one can achieve it alone. There is such a thing as society, and government’s purpose is to shape a society in which individual freedom can flourish. (Michael Ignatieff)