Brasília – For the ninth straight week, the 2019 inflation estimate from financial institutions polled by the Central Bank (BC) has gone up. The economy growth estimates for both 2019 and 2020 were unchanged.
As per the Focus Bulletin made public this Monday (6), the Extended National Consumer Price Index stood at 4.13%, up from 4.04%. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) will made the 2019 IPCA public on Friday (10).
The 2020 inflation estimate was down from 3.61% to 3.60%. The forecast for the next years were unchanged: 3.75% for 2021 and 3.50% for 2022.
The poll’s respondents see the benchmark interest rate, known as the Selic, remaining at 4.5% per annum. The rate is expected to climb to 6.5% in 2020, then remain at that level in 2022.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast remained at 1.17% in 2019 and 2.3% in 2020. IBGE will only make 2019 GDP public in late March. The poll’s 2021 and 2022 results remained at 2.5%.
The US dollar is expected to be selling for BRL 4.09 by the end of 2020, up from BRL 4.08, and for BRL 4 in late 2021.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
