Brasília, April 12, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The majority of financial institutions in Brazil predict that the overnight benchmark interest rate (Selic) will be lowered to 16% per annum at the upcoming meeting of the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (Copom), tomorrow (13) and Wednesday (14).

As for the meeting scheduled for next month, the forecast is for the Selic to be reduced to 15.5%, according to a market poll released today by the Central Bank. With respect to the exchange rate, the analysts predict a slight fluctuation in the quotation of the US dollar, which should vary between R$ 2.91 (today's price) and R$ 2.92 over the next 30 days.

Translator: David Silberstein