Brasília, June 16, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - In a week when the Copom (the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee) will define the tendency in the prime interest rate, a study of the financial market conducted by the Central Bank shows that analysts and investors are forecasting a drop in the inflation rate measured by the IPCA (Broad Consumer Price Index), from 12.06% to 11.84%, in 2003.

This is the second straight week in which the market has lowered its expectations for this index, which is the one used in official determinations of inflation targets. The projection, however, is still far from the government's adjusted target of 8.5% for this year.

The same study also indicates that the market's expectation for inflation in June, in terms of the IPCA, fell from 0.55% to 0.44%. And the projection for the IPCA over the next 12 months dropped from 8.09% to 7.76%. For 2004, the forecast for inflation is 7.43%. (DAS)