Brasília – Brazilian financial institutions have cut, for the fifth straight time, their inflation rate forecast for this year. According to a poll by the Brazilian Central Bank (BC) released this Monday (26) in Brasília, the Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA – the country’s official inflation rate) should be 3.94% this year. Last week, the forecast by the banks pointed to a 4.13% rate. For 2019, the inflation forecast dropped from 4.20% to 4.12%. The forecast for 2020 remained unchanged: 4%. For 2021, it went from 3.90% to 3.86%.
For the market, the SELIC, the benchmark interest rates, should remain at 6.5% per year until the end of 2018. In 2019, the forecast points to an increase, ending the year at 7.75% per year. The previous forecast pointed to interest rates of 8% per year. For 2020 and 2021, the market’s forecast remains at 8%.
The financial institutions revised up their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast from 1.36% to 1.39% in 2018. For the next three years, the forecast remains at 2.50%.
The forecast for the value of the dollar remains at BRL 3.70 at the end of this year, and it went from BRL 3.76 to BRL 3.78 at the end of 2019.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
