BRASILIA: Brazil’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by half a point Wednesday to 14.25 per cent, seeking to fight inflation during a major slump in the local currency.

The bank’s monetary policy committee COPOM decided in a unanimous vote to raise the Selic rate by 0.50 percentage points, the seventh consecutive raise.

The half-point bump was the largest boost in nine years.

On Friday, the real plunged to its lowest level against the dollar, adding to the woes of a country already hit by five years of low growth.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2015

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