Brazil lifts rate after nearly two years to tame prices

Brazil raised interest rates for the first time in nearly two years, stepping up a battle against surging price increases that threaten to wreck an already weak recovery in Latin America’s largest economy.

The central bank hiked its benchmark Selic rate to 7.50 per cent late on Wednesday from an all-time low of 7.25 per cent. The move follows growing public uproar over rapid price increases for food staples and mounting political concerns as Brazil approaches a third year of lacklustre growth in the run-up to the next year presidential election.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1217356/brazil-lifts-rate-after-nearly-two-years-tame-prices