SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil Finance Minister Fernando Haddad on Friday said the country is about to enter a downward cycle of interest rates, pointing out that inflation is “more behaved.”
“Inflation is more behaved. The exchange rate is stable at a much lower level than the one we inherited. Long-term interest rates are falling. GDP is being revised upwards,” Haddad said in an interview with local broadcaster GloboNews.
He said, however, that the gap between the fall in interest rates and accelerated consumption is a concern for the government, pointing to a pack of measures unveiled on Thursday aimed at boosting local industry, focusing on the automotive sector.
Brazil’s benchmark interest rate, which sits at 13.75%, has been the subject of criticism by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and aides, while central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto has previously ruled out imminent cuts.
(Reporting by Andre Romani; Editing by Mark Porter and Brendan O’Boyle)
