* Brazil’s central bank (BCB) has raised its inflation forecast for 2023, predicting annual inflation of 5.8%. This was up from the BCB’s December forecast of 5.0% in 2023, and is above the BCB’s inflation target of 3.25% +/-1.5. For 2024, the BCB raised its inflation forecast from 3.0% to 3.6%. The BCB stated that “recently, economic analysts’ expectations of future inflation increased significantly, including for more distant years”. The BCB held Brazil’s benchmark interest rate at 13.75% in its latest monetary policy meeting on 22 March, marking the fifth consecutive month without a change in interest rates and drawing the ire of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.