Brasília, March 17, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The president of the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES), Carlos Lessa, called today for an annual interest rate on the order of 8.5%. Lessa said that he expects a "certain reduction" of interest rates during today's meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom). He did not wish to venture a guess on the Committee's decision, but he acknowledged that it would be difficult to lower the rate to 8.5% at this moment.

The Committee will decide today whether or not to maintain the annual prime rate (Selic) at 16.5%. "All we Brazilians want macro-economic stability, and at the same time we want the growth of income, employment, and development," Lessa added. (DAS)