BRASILIA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Brazil said on Monday that the country's inflation forecast for 2025 has fallen within its official target range for the first time.
According to the Central Bank's weekly Focus survey, which compiles forecasts from analysts at major financial institutions, inflation for 2025 is now projected to ease to 4.46 percent, while the estimate for 2026 remains at 4.2 percent. In contrast, Brazil's official inflation target is 3 percent per year, with a tolerance range of 1.5 percentage points in either direction, setting the ceiling at 4.5 percent.
Four weeks ago, markets expected inflation to reach 4.70 percent in 2025 and 4.27 percent in 2026.
Analysts estimate that the benchmark Selic interest rate will remain at 15 percent through the end of 2025 before easing to 12.25 percent in 2026.
Brazil's economic growth is projected to remain at 2.16 percent in 2025 and 1.78 percent in 2026.
In currency markets, the Brazilian real currently trades at an average of 5.29 to the U.S. dollar. Forecasters now expect it to weaken slightly to 5.40 by the end of 2025 and 5.50 by the end of 2026.
For the trade balance, analysts expect a surplus of 62 billion dollars by the end of the year and 66 billion dollars next year.
Projected foreign direct investment in the country remained unchanged at 70.25 billion dollars for 2025 and 70 billion dollars for 2026. ■
