In a context of monetary sovereignty, the imbalances translated into currency depreciation, international reserves depletion and high and rising inflation rates. With monetary policy fully available at national level, financial repression was the name of the game. The policy prescription consisted of interest rate increases, credit growth targets, capital controls and the devaluation of the escudo to contain domestic demand and restore export competitiveness.
The payments operations of state and federally chartered private banks, private clearing houses, and the operations of the new central bank, provided the foundation for the private- and public-sector payments infrastructure that exists in the United States today. Yet for many years, policies that deterred interstate banking shaped the design and operation of the retail payments system.