RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil slashed its key interest rate further on Wednesday to try to yank Latin America's biggest economy out of its worst recession in a century. The country's central bank cut the benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage points to 12.25 percent — still one of the world's highest. It was the fourth such cut in a row by the Brazilian Central Bank, as inflation falls but the economy shows few signs of recovering any time soon from two years of decline. The scale of Wednesday's cut was in line with analysts' expectations, though some had said the bank should cut rates even more sharply, citing a steep decline in inflation. "There is room for that cut, which would be positive in terms of what the country needs," he told AFP, adding that big banks were opposed to such a sharp reduction.

Source: The China Post February 23, 2017 16:07 UTC