BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank slashed interest rates to their lowest in over two years on Wednesday, stepping up monetary easing to rescue an economy afflicted by its worst recession in more than a century.
In a unanimous vote, the bank's 9-member monetary policy committee, known as Copom, decided to lower its benchmark Selic rate by 100 basis points to 11.25 percent. It marked the biggest reduction since June of 2009 and followed cuts at the last four meetings, with decreases of 75 basis points at the previous two.