BRAZIL

On January 20, the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom, in Spanish) decided to maintain reference interest rates (Selic, in Spanish), at 2% per annum. The Copom added that it would not reduce the degree of monetary stimulus, provided that certain conditions were met. If these conditions are not met, such as inflation expectations, the committee will draw up a new evaluation.  

The Copom took the base scenario, the risk balance and other available data as the basis for adopting these decisions.  The baseline scenario estimate was based on factors such as the increase in COVID-19 cases, the new coronavirus strains, other international issues and inflation expectations.