Rio, 12/15/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The son of vice president Jose Alencar, Josoé Gomes da Silva, has joined the chorus of voices calling for lower interest rates in Brazil. Pointing out that what Brazil should do is have interest rates at the level they are in countries it competes with, such as China (2%), Singapore (5.1%) and Malaysia (7.8%), Gomes da Silva said, "If we have to compete with them, we need similar interest rates." He also added that in the US and European Union interest rates are around 1% or even negative. (AB)