Surprise Rate Cut Follows Turkey as Economy Slows: Brazil Credit
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The Brazilian central bank’s surprise cut in interest rates makes the country the second in the Group of 20 after Turkey to use that tool to safeguard the economy against a global slowdown.
The bank’s board, led by President Alexandre Tombini, voted 5-2 to cut the benchmark rate a half point to 12 percent after raising it at each of its previous five meetings. All 62 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected no change, as was favored by the two dissenting board members. Traders in the interest-rate futures market were assigning a 56 percent chance of a quarter-point cut, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.