Brazil's benchmark interest rate down to record low at 5 pct

Source: Xinhua | 2019-11-01

The Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) of the Central Bank of Brazil on Wednesday announced its decision to cut the benchmark interest rate Selic from 5.5 percent to 5 percent, a record low.
The reduction is expected by economists.
After reaching over 14 percent in 2015, the Selic rate was gradually reduced to 6.5 percent in 2018. Since July 2019, the Copom has continued to cut the rate by 0.5 percent in each of its meetings convened every six weeks.
The last Copom meeting of the year is scheduled to be held on Dec. 10-11, so the rate is likely to suffer another cut within 2019.
In a statement, the Copom stressed the necessity to continue economic reforms so as to maintain the interest rate at low levels.