The president of the Central Bank, Gabriel Galípolo, who is giving a lecture at FEA-USP this Friday morning (10), faces a protest from a small group of students against the country’s high basic interest rate. The group put up a banner on the path where Galípolo will pass with the words “Selic 14.7% is theft – interest + science + education”.
Pamphlets with the title “where is the Brazilian economy going – until when will we be record holders in high interest rates?” are being distributed at the front of the auditorium to people arriving for the central banker’s lecture showing the impacts of Selic at 14.75% per year on people’s lives, industry and public debt.
According to the piece, due to high interest rates, 81 million people and 8.1 million companies are in default in the country. “31% of active businesses in the country are unable to pay their debts and in 2025 there was an increase in requests for judicial recovery (Fecomercio)”, says the pamphlet.
Furthermore, according to the protesting students, in the 12 months up to February, public sector spending on interest reached R$1,038.8 billion or 8.07% of GDP.
According to Tomás Lucchesi Forastieri, an economics student at FEA-USP, one of the organizers of the movement, that with interest rates at this level it is harmful to the Brazilian economy, workers and companies in Brazil. “It is urgent to increase the inflation target, which at 3% is insane for the current economy,” he said.
According to Lucchesi, Galípolo avoided entering the college’s main entrance and entered through the parking lot.
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