Brasília – This Friday (20th), president Dilma Rousseff said Brazil must seek an interest rate level similar to those seen internationally, and that the country’s high bank spreads (difference between interest paid in obtaining the funds and the interest charged on loans) are hard to justify.
To the president, the country’s maturing process will allow interest rates to reach levels “more compatible with our reality.” “We are headed toward higher growth rates, so interest rates will also increasingly reflect that reality. I have said it in the past that I do not understand the technical reasons for a certain level of spread,” she told journalists after attending a ceremony at the Itamaraty Palace.
Upon being questioned as to whether the lowering of interest rates by public and private banks over the last few days was sufficient, the president replied that she believes this will be “a maturing process for the country that will progressively lead us to interest rates more in keeping with our reality, because we are not just any country. We are a country recognized for its stable economic scenario.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
