The Central Bank website showed instability and was off the air for a few minutes this Wednesday afternoon (30), amid the stoppage of the municipality’s servers due to salary readjustments and career restructuring.
When trying to consult the site, a message in English signaled the impossibility of access. “Our services are currently unavailable. We are working to restore all services as soon as possible. Please come back soon,” read the page.
According to the president of Sinal (National Union of Central Bank Employees), Fabio Faiad, the instability is due to the mobilization of BC servers. “Maintenance is done by the IT department, which is very strong in joining the movement,” he said.
The monetary authority did not comment until the publication of this report.
The failure can be seen as an alert to the BC two days before the start of the workers’ strike for an indefinite period, scheduled to start next Friday (1st). Since March 17, employees have been carrying out daily stoppages from 2 pm to 6 pm and operating in standard operation.
The mobilization of BC servants has caused a series of delays in the monetary authority’s routine, especially in the dissemination of indicators.
Earlier, the municipality informed that selected economic indicators, such as the exchange rate, would not be published on Wednesday, as planned. “We will inform you when there is a definition of the publication date”, it communicated in a note.
The publication of the economic-financial notes for the month of February was also postponed, with no new date set yet.
In addition, in recent weeks, there has been a delay in the publication of exchange rate data, the result of the pre-Copom questionnaire and the calculation of the daily ptax (exchange rate), in addition to interruptions in the preventive monitoring of Pix and SPB (System of Brazilian Payments).
During the strike, the union guarantees that the essential services law will be respected. But he points out that “Pix and several other BC activities are not included in this law. Therefore, many delays or interruptions may occur”.
The distribution of coins and banknotes, the dissemination of the Focus survey and various fees, as well as the functioning of the Brazilian Payment System (SPB), the Demab trading desk and other activities may be impacted.
The BC, in turn, says it has contingency plans to “keep the functioning of critical systems for the population, markets and the operations of regulated institutions, such as STR [Sistema de Transferência de Reservas]Pix, Selic, among others”.
This Thursday (31), the representatives of the servers are scheduled to meet with the BC Administration Board to discuss how the activities of the monetary authority will proceed during the strike.
The movement of BC servers is part of the national mobilization of the civil service for salary readjustments and career restructuring. The pressure began after President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) waved an increase to federal police officers, a category that makes up his support base.​
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
