Brazil cuts interest rate by a further half-point
The Peninsula
Bras lia: Brazil s central bank cut its key interest rate by half a point for the sixth straight time on Wednesday, continuing the easing that Preside...
Brasília: Brazil's central bank cut its key interest rate by half a point for the sixth straight time on Wednesday, continuing the easing that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hopes will spur Latin America's biggest economy.
In line with analyst forecasts, the bank's monetary policy committee said its members had voted unanimously to lower the benchmark Selic rate to 10.75 percent in their second meeting of the year.
The committee's members plan to make reductions "of the same magnitude in their coming meetings," they said in a statement, with a next gathering expected in May.
Haunted by a history of hyperinflation, Brazil had gone on one of the most aggressive monetary tightening cycles in the world when the Covid-19 pandemic and then Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent global prices on an upward spiral in early 2021.
Veteran leftist Lula has pushed hard for interest rate cuts, saying a high Selic is "irrational" and stunting Brazil's growth.
