Selic rate is expected to be raised to 13.25% on Wednesday because of worsening inflation and fiscal risk

06/13/2022

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With the Selic policy interest rate already in double digits since the beginning of the year and in significantly contractionary territory, the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) meets this week to deliver a new interest rate increase. The market consensus points to a 50 basis points hike, which would take the basic rate to 13.25%.

The decision, however, became even more uncertain. The de-anchoring of inflation expectations for 2023 has intensified since the last decision and, in addition, the deterioration in the balance of fiscal risks has given additional support to the possibility of a further increase in the Selic in August – a scenario that has already been captured in the survey carried out by Valor.

The survey was carried out between Thursday and Friday, after the release of Brazil’s benchmark inflation index IPCA for May and included 91 financial institutions and consulting firms. The midpoint of the projections collected by Valor indicates that the Selic rate should be raised by 50 basis points this week and by another 25 bp in August, when it would reach 13.5%, at the end of the current monetary tightening cycle. In the survey released on May 30, the consensus pointed to a Selic rate of 13.25% at the end of the cycle.

The increase in expectations for the Selic rate comes in the wake of a further deterioration in expected inflation ahead. If, in the survey carried out before Copom’s May meeting, expectations for the IPCA in 2023 were at 4%, they are now at 4.6%. It is worth remembering the relevant horizon for monetary policy currently includes only calendar year 2023 and that next year’s inflation target is 3.25%.

Cassiana Fernandez — Foto: Divulgação

“We expected that inflation would have already slowed down and the truth is that there is still inflationary pressure that is still very widespread and quite worrying in the composition,” notes J.P. Morgan’s chief economist for Brazil, Cassiana Fernandez. She also notes that this process has been reflected in the increase of inflationary expectations, especially in the relevant horizon for the Central Bank’s actions.

On Friday, J.P. Morgan began to see, in its baseline scenario, an even more extensive cycle of monetary tightening, with a final increase in the Selic in August. Ms. Fernandez notes that the Central Bank has promoted a very aggressive tightening cycle, raising the Selic by more than 1,000 bps since March 2021, which justifies the feeling that the cycle is nearing its end.

“The point is that it is still difficult to calibrate that end. And that is why I expect the Central Bank not only to deliver a 50 points hike, signaled in the last communication, but also to leave the door open for future movements, recognizing that, since the last meeting, there has been a worsening in the inflation scenario,” she says.

Fernando Gonçalves, superintendent of economic research at Itaú Unibanco, says it is unlikely that the Central Bank will interrupt the tightening cycle on Wednesday. “Even with the slightly better IPCA number for May, the cores are still extremely high and inflation has all the peculiarities of being persistent, quite widespread,” he says.

Itaú understands that Copom may indicate it foresees a new Selic increase in the August meeting. For Mr. Gonçalves, the statement may be similar to the last month’s decision, in which the committee gave strong signals, but opted to leave the next steps of monetary policy open, depending on the data.

Besides the two 50-point interest rate increases expected by Itaú, Mr. Gonçalves believes that in order to materialize the process of convergence of inflation expectations to the target, interest rates will need to remain at a high level for a very long period. “We can only see a cut in interest rates in the middle of next year. We know that long periods of relative stability in the Selic are not common in Brazil, but it will need to remain stationary to start exerting a greater influence of interest rates on the economy,” he argues.

Valor’s surveys have already captured an upward trend in expectations for the Selic rate at the end of 2023. Before the Copom meeting in May, the midpoint of the projections pointed to a basic interest rate of 9% next year. Now, the expectation is for a Selic at 9.75%, when bets that it will remain above 10% have increased.

The effort to try to cheapen fuel prices via tax exoneration is a fact expected to increase the uncertainties in the decision. “It has a considerably large deflationary potential, but the impacts would be temporary. Besides, the measures imply a worsening of the fiscal framework. As the discussion is ongoing, it may enter laterally in monetary policy via the balance of risks,” says economist Leonardo Costa, with ASA Investments.

For him, the measures worsen the balance of risks for meeting the targets in 2023. “Observing the attempts to control administered prices, I consider it an additional risk for the balance next year. Obviously you gain in inflation in the short term, at the cost of higher inflation in the medium term,” he points out.

Elisa Machado, chief economist at ARX Investimentos, who expects a Selic at 13.75% in the cycle, also believes that Copom may leave the next steps open, given the increased uncertainty and risks.

“Not only because of this view that there is no relief on the inflation side, but also because of these changes in [sales tax] ICMS, [social taxes] PIS/Cofins… On the one hand, this represents an increase in fiscal risk and. On the other hand, there would be a reduction of inflation in 2022, which would rise again in, disrupting the relevant horizon and throwing up inflation expectations for 2023,” emphasizes Ms. Machado.

Camila de Faria Lima, chief economist at Canvas Capital, defends a more open communication by the Central Bank given the high level of uncertainty. “However, I understand that if the Copom is effectively foreseeing the end of the high cycle, it would be better to make this vision explicit and, thus, guide market expectations,” she says. For her, this could happen with the indication of yet another residual hike or with the indication that the hike to be implemented this week marks the end of the cycle.

In its basic scenario, Canvas projects the Selic at 13.25% at the end of the cycle and 10% in 2023. Ms. Faria Lima recalls that the basic interest rate is already at a very contractionary level and that the most forceful effects on the economy are expected to appear in the second half. “Taking these aspects into account, in my opinion it is completely justifiable, in the scenario we have, to establish a credible inflation target for next year, extending the convergence to the center of the target to 2024,” she says.

Victor Candido, chief economist of RPS Capital, also adopts in his basic scenario the end of the cycle this week, with the Selic at 13.25%, although he points out the risks of a new high in August. For him, the Central Bank has already fulfilled the main part of its cycle and now only a “fine adjustment” remains. “I believe it will make the 50 bp hike that is priced into the curve and say it needs to evaluate the international scenario, the new internal risks and see how inflation itself will behave,” he predicts.

*By Victor Rezende, Gabriel Roca — São Paulo

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/