Brazil sells $193 mln in debt, rolls over expiry

Reuters, 04.03.03, 2:17 PM ET SAO PAULO, Brazil, April 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's Central Bank sold another $193 million in dollar-linked debt on Thursday, meaning it has rolled over all of the $921 million in similar securities coming due on April 17. The bank said in a statement it sold debt maturing in July 2005 and January 2008 at interest rates of 10.06 percent and 11.18 percent, respectively. The rates were a bit lower than it paid in recent auctions. Earlier in the day, the bank sold $727 million in similar securities. After struggling to sell debt in the run up to presidential elections last year, Brazil's Central Bank has managed to roll over nearly all of the debt it has had coming due so far in 2003 as investors warm to the new center-left government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The successful debt auctions have also helped to prop up Brazil's currency, the real , which has gained nearly 9 percent so far this year despite market jitters sparked by the war in Iraq. On Thursday, the real closed at 3.255 per dollar, its strongest level since early September.