Brazil holds interest rate steady

Brazil's central bank left unchanged Wednesday its benchmark interest rate as Latin America's largest economy remains mired in recession and high inflation. The central bank, as expected, kept the key Selic rate at 14.25 percent, where it has been pegged for a year to support the flailing economy. The meeting of the Central Bank Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) was the first one headed by the new market-friendly central bank governor, Ilan Goldfajn. Goldfajn has made reining in spiraling prices his top priority.
Markets expect the central bank to cut the Selic rate by a full percentage point by the end of the year. Copom has kept the rate unchanged for eight consecutive sessions. The last rate hike was in July 2015.