Brazil hikes key rate to 11%

Brazil raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 11 percent, as Latin America's largest economy scrambled to contain inflation. The central bank's monetary policy commission (Copom) said on Wednesday the decision continued the process of adjustment begun last April, when the rate stood at 7.25 percent Copom did not rule out further rate increases. Markets had been expecting the increase; some analysts think the rate will rise to 11.25 percent before the end of 2014. President Dilma Rousseff, who is widely expected to win re-election in October, had pushed for lowering borrowing costs to stimulate domestic consumption and investments. The government and market analysts say Brazil's GDP growth in 2013 reached 2.3 percent. This year analysts are banking on two-percent growth.