Brasília, 6/17/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The newly elected president of the labor union CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores), Luiz Marinho, visited the Ministry of Finance yesterday and joined the chorus of voices calling for lower interest rates (the benchmark Brazilian interest rate, the Selic, is now at 26.5%). "It is extremely important to begin the process of bringing interest rates down," said Marinho, adding that in his opinion the downturn should begin with this week's meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) (which is scheduled to end tomorrow, Wednesday).

Marinho cited recent remarks by minister of Finance, Antonio Palocci, to the effect that with consistent inflation control it is possible to reduce interest rates. (AB)