Brasília – Financial institutions polled by the Brazilian Central Bank (BC) revised down their growth forecast for the Brazilian economy this year. The forecast released this Monday (18) calls for a 1.76% growth of the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018. Last week’s forecast was of 1.94%. The forecast for 2019 was also revised down, for the second consecutive time, going from 2.80% to 2.70%.
The banks polled by the BC bulletin expect the benchmark interest rates, the SELIC, to remain in 6.50% per year at this week’s meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (COPOM). The committee will gather on Thursday (19), in Brasília, and the decision on the SELIC will be announced the next day, after the meeting’s second half.
The banks expect the Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) to end the year at 3.88%. Last week’s forecast was of 3.82%. This was the fifth consecutive time the forecast was revised up. For 2019, the inflation forecast went from 4.07% to 4.10%, in the third straight revision. The IPCA is Brazil’s official inflation rate.
The financial market’s forecast for the price of the dollar went from BRL 3.53 to BRL 3.57 at the end of this year, and from BRL 3.48% to BRL 3.50 at the end of 2019.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
