Brazil’s central bank kept its key interest rate at a record-low 2.00% on Wednesday, pledging to stimulate the coronavirus-hit economy with “forward guidance” rather than more rate cuts because of the risk to financial market stability that they could pose.
Brazilian central bank president Roberto Campos Neto said on Wednesday that the balance of economic risks and increasingly benign inflation means there is scope to cut interest rates further.
Brazil’s central bank will have to weigh potential price pressures from the U.S.-China trade war against prospects of a disappointing recovery when determining how long its easing cycle will last.
Brazil’s central bank cut interest rates to an all-time low on Wednesday and hinted at a smaller reduction early next year, although it said it would be extra cautious going forward. The bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee, known as Copom, cut the benchmark Selic rate by 50 basis points to 7.00%, capping a 725 basis-point decline since October 2016.
Brazil's central bank cut interest rates below 10% for the first time in nearly four years on Wednesday, keeping a fast pace of monetary easing as plunging inflation gave it leeway to aid an incipient recovery.The bank's nine-member monetary policy committee, known as Copom, cut its benchmark Selic rate by 100 basis points for the third straight time to 9.25%.
Brazil's Central Bank cut the key interest rate by a full one percentage point on Wednesday in an effort to inject life into the floundering economy. This was the fifth straight cut, taking the key Selic rate to 11.25%.
The Brazilian Central Bank on Wednesday raised its inflation estimate for 2015 to 9%, or almost double the midpoint in the official range and well above the 6.5% top end target, and said the economy may contract by 1.1% this year, marking the worst performance since 1990.
As was anticipated and in line with the current anti-inflation policy, Brazil's central bank on Wednesday evening announced the increase of the basic Selic interest rate another 50 points to 13.25% from 12.75%. The decision from the nine-member Monetary Committee was unanimous, according to the official release.
Brazil's Central Bank appears likely to continue raising interest rates in the short-term, saying in its most recent meeting that its inflation-fighting effort in recent months has been insufficiently effective. The view was reflected in the minutes, published on Thursday, of its monetary policy committee's March 4 meeting, when the bank raised its benchmark Selic interest rate by 50 basis points to 12.75%.
Brazil’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 12.75% Wednesday, the highest level since 2009, as it struggles to get price increases under control amid sluggish economic growth and deepening political turmoil.