Good morning! Today, a tensely awaited Central Bank policy announcement. Brazil has a problem with undetermined deaths. And the country’s continuing millionaire exodus.
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Central Bank to announce policy decision amid political tension
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Brazilian Central Bank is expected this evening to keep the country’s benchmark interest rate at 10.5 percent. While that perception is nearly a consensus within the market, investors will be looking at whether the decision is unanimous or split within the committee itself.
Rate watch. In May, the Central Bank slowed down the pace of monetary easing, with a rate cut of 0.25 points that interrupted the previous pace of 0.5-point cuts.
- But what raised eyebrows was the fact that the decision was split between a five-vote majority from Central Bank board members appointed by the former Jair Bolsonaro administration, and a four-vote minority named by the current Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government — all of whom called for a 0.5-point cut instead.
- Even if unintended, the split was treated as...