Bloomberg reports Brazil Steps Up Intervention as the Real Crashes Toward Two-Year Low.

Brazil's central bank bolstered efforts to shore up the currency after it tumbled to the weakest level since former President Dilma Rousseff's tumultuous impeachment in 2016.

The real has weakened 12 percent since the end of March, the worst performance among 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg, as investors grow concerned that October elections could usher in a new president less attuned to investors and business. Fear that moves seen as key to fixing fiscal problems would be derailed have exacerbated what's already been a lackluster year in emerging markets. The real fell 0.9 percent to 3.7791 per dollar as of 11:55 a.m. in New York, and earlier reached 3.8056, the weakest since March 2016.

Brazil Declares Currency War

March 3, 2012 Flashback: Brazil Declares New Currency War on US and Europe

Brazil has declared a fresh "currency war" on the US and Europe, extending a tax on foreign borrowings and threatening further capital controls in an effort to protect the country's struggling manufacturers.