This Wednesday (18), the Monetary Policy Committee (COPOM) reduced the basic interest rate from 15% (SELIC) to 14.75%. The measure was defined in a meeting held by the Central Bank.
The financial market was already awaiting the announcement, considering the committee’s signals that pointed to the beginning of an easing of monetary policy.
The Selic rate was at its highest level since July 2006, when it was at 15.25% per year. Between September 2024 and June 2025, the Central Bank promoted seven consecutive increases, but kept the rate unchanged in the four most recent meetings.
In the minutes of the January meeting, the Copom registered the intention to initiate cuts in the Selic from March. However, the beginning of the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran generated uncertainty about the magnitude of the reduction, leading some financial institutions to consider the possibility of postponing the interest rate cut.
