LatinNews Daily - 01 February 2024

*The monetary policy committee (Copom) of Brazil’s central bank (BCB) has lowered the benchmark interest rate (Selic) from 11.75% to 11.25%. This marks the fifth consecutive meeting since August 2023 in which Copom has reduced the Selic by 50 basis points. According to a Copom statement, the committee members unanimously anticipate rate cuts of the same magnitude in the coming meetings if the disinflationary process continues. Brazil’s annual inflation rate for 2023 came to 4.62%, according to figures released by the national statistics institute (Ibge) earlier this month. Copom forecasts that annual inflation will close this year at 3.50%, within the BCB’s 2024 target range of 3.00% +/-1.5. Private sector analysts and economists, whose forecasts are released in the BCB’s weekly Focus bulletin, projected an annual inflation rate of 3.81% for 2024, according to the latest edition of the bulletin published on 30 January, down from the 3.86% forecast from the previous week.