Minister Paulo Guedes says that the Selic rate should slow down in 2023

Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that in 2023 there will be a deceleration in the economy’s basic interest rate, the Selic. The statement was made at an event on Monday afternoon (19).

“What we are going to see for next year, possibly, is interest rates going down. Because inflation will already be lower, closer to the target, forecasts for next year are already 5%. So interest rates can start to gradually decrease”, said the minister.

“Real interest rates are high precisely to bring down inflation, so it is a component of cyclical deceleration. The economy could be growing a little faster, from the point of view of structure, growth and long-term trend, but there is a component of cyclical deceleration due to the fact that interest rates are high”, added the minister.

Currently, the basic interest rate is 13.75%. The last adjustment was at the end of July, when the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) decided to raise the Selic by 0.5%. In the communiqué of the last meeting, the Committee stated that it “will assess the need for a residual adjustment, of lesser magnitude, at its next meeting”. Now, the group will meet again this Tuesday (20) to define the Selic on Wednesday (21).

Also this Monday (19), the Focus bulletin, which brings together market projections for the Brazilian economy, predicted that the basic interest rate should remain at 13.75% in 2022, without a new adjustment. However, for 2023, the market goes against the predictions of the Minister of Economy, and projects a Selic at 11.25%.