Brazil’s Minister of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, stated his belief that interest rates can fall in the second half of the year, in light of the positive results in the economy.
According to the Minister, who participated in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s meeting, yesterday, July 13, with French and Brazilian business leaders, studies are already indicating a drop in the annual inflation rate to 5%, within the target set by the government.
“Everything suggests that the measures that were adopted produced results and that, soon, they will no longer be necessary. I imagine that the second semester will be a declining sequence of steps in interest rates,” the Minister commented.
Furlan also said he perceives confidence on the part of foreign businessmen in the country, as a result of the positive results registered by the economy during the first half of the year.
President Lula also spoke at the meeting about a possible decrease in interest rates. “The reversal of inflationary expectations and the measures of fiscal control signal a consistently downward trend in interest rates.”
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br
