brasiliabrazils president luiz inácio lula da silva reaffirmed wednesday his criticism of the countrys central bank even as it is expected to start cutting rates soon the bank has kept its benchmark selic rate at a hefty 1375 since august 2022 it is widely expected to trim that rate by a quarter of a percentage point later wednesday likely kicking off a ratecutting cycle da silva has criticized the banks leadership for keeping rates so high even as inflation has been declining i dont know what he knows but he doesnt know about brazil and about people da silva said in a press conference with foreign journalists at the presidential palace in brasilia in an apparent reference to the central banks president roberto campos neto campos neto has defended the banks policy saying among other things that the countrys high debt level pushes interest rates higher da silva 77 was elected for the third time in 2022 and was inaugurated last january promising economic inclusion and growth he beat incumbent jair bolsonaro a rightwing firebrand who openly supported his american counterpart donald trump brazils economy has been improving in recent months leading rating agency fitch ratings to upgrade the countrys rating from bb to bb with a stable outlook citing better than expected macroeconomic and fiscal performances after a long period of monetary tightening that began in march 2021 when the selic was at a historic low of 2 inflation is falling toward the central banks 3 target the 12month consumer price index has come down from an almost 19year high of 1213 in april 2022 to 316 in june but economists expect it to rebound in the next few months and end the year closer to 5 which could keep the central bank from cutting rates too fast inflation is expected to decline further in 2024 da silva said slowing inflation and high borrowing costs mean brazil has the worlds highest real interest rate without any explanation he said the current level of inflation is one that brazil could live with interest rates didnt need to be where they are he said but we will keep growing regardless write to luciana magalhães at lucianamagalhaeswsjcom and paulo trevisani at paulotrevisaniwsjcom