2018.04.2312:30:00UTC+00BRAZIL: Interest Rate Forecast For 2018 Unchanged At 6.25% Per Year

Economists polled by the Brazilian central bank kept their estimates for the country's benchmark interest rate (Selic) unchanged for the third week at 6.25% at the end of 2018. The forecast for the average rate in 2018 also remained stable at 6.34%.

For 2019, estimates remained at 8.00% for the fourteenth week, while the forecast for the average rate next year decreased to 7.08%, from 7.20% a week before.

Last month, the Brazilian central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) cut the country's benchmark interest rate to 6.50% - a record low - from 6.75%, in line with market expectations. The Brazilian Central Bank also indicated that weak inflation might warrant a new decrease in its next meeting, scheduled for May.