BRASILIA (Reuters) – There was unanimity in the Brazil central bank’s latest policy decision that an interest-rate-cut pace of 50 basis points would be suitable for the upcoming meetings, the bank’s director of institutional relations, Mauricio Moura, said on Monday
“I voted at the last meeting for a 50 basis point reduction, and I was part of the committee’s unanimous stance that this pace would be the most appropriate for the next meetings,” Moura said during a live broadcast hosted by the central bank, when asked about a potential pace change.
Moura highlighted that any alteration in his personal opinion would come only after a thorough analysis of a broad set of data, which will be presented to the nine members of the rate-setting committee, known as Copom, at the next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 1.
“I have no reason to change my opinion that I had in the last Copom meeting, and I will only reconsider, if necessary, when we have all the data that will be presented in two weeks,” he said.
After holding borrowing costs steady at a cycle-high for nearly one year to tame inflation, policymakers have cut the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis point rate in each of their last two decisions, bringing it to 12.75%.
Moura also commented on the Israel conflict, acknowledging the geopolitical risks it poses, which could potentially have implications for inflation, particularly involving oil prices. However, it is still too early to discuss the extent of these impacts, he added.
(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)
