Brazil central bank keeps rates steady, still signals extended hold

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil’s central bank on Wednesday kept interest rates unchanged for the second straight policy meeting and reiterated that borrowing costs would stay steady for a “very prolonged period” to bring annual inflation back to the official 3% target.

The bank’s monetary policy committee, known as Copom, unanimously held the benchmark Selic rate at 15%, its highest level since July 2006, as forecast by all 41 economists surveyed by Reuters last week.

(Reporting by Marcela AyresEditing by Brad Haynes)