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Brazil’s real interest rate world’s second-highest after Selic bump

real interest rate second highest
Photo: Eames Bot/Shutterstock

A survey by Infinity Asset Management shows that Brazil now has the world’s second-highest real interest rate, after the Brazilian Central Bank jacked up benchmark interests by 1 percentage point this week. Since the beginning of the year, the Selic rate has risen from 2 to 6.25 percent.

Discounting inflation, interests reach 3.34 percent, only behind Turkey’s 4.96 percent. The Central Bank’s decision to conduct steep interest hikes is part of a strategy to curb inflation, which has inched closer to the 10-percent mark over the 12-month period. The upper limit of the government’s target band sits at 5.25 percent.