Brazil Central Bank keeps interest at yearly 6.5%

For the fourth time in a row, the Brazilian Central Bank kept the economy’s benchmark interest rate unchanged. Members of its Monetary Policy Committee unanimously decided to keep the Selic rate at 6.5 percent a year. The move had been expected by analysts.

Today’s decision maintains the rate at its lowest since the beginning of this time series in 1986. From October 2012 to April 2013, the value was held at 7.25 percent per annum and was gradually increased until it reached 14.25 percent in July 2015. In October 2016, the Central Bank once again cut down the benchmark interest rate until it sank to 6.5 percent a year in March 2018.

In May, Brazil’s Central Bank interrupted a streak of reductions and kept the rate at 6.5% in a decision that took the financial market by surprise. On the occasion, the financial authorities argued that an international unstable landscape, made evident by an appreciation in the dollar in the previous months, played a significant role in the decision.