Brazil has the highest real interest rate in the world, followed by Türkiye and Argentina

Brazil remains the country with the highest real interest rates in the world, calculated at 9.05%, more than seven times the average of 1.27% in the ranking by market consultancy Moneyou published this week. The real interest discounts inflation in each country.

Brazil leads the ranking of 40 countries analyzed, above Türkiye, Argentina, Russia and Colombia.

Check out the top 10:

Brazil (9.05%)

Türkiye (7.77%),

Argentina (6.80%),

Russia (6.57%),

Colombia (4.05%),

Indonesia (3.67%),

Mexico (3.26%),

South Africa (2.93%),

Hungary (2.04%) and

Chile (1.69%).

In the last survey published in September, Brazil already had the highest real interest rate in the ranking, but at a lower level, 8.45%.

Last Wednesday (4), the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) unanimously interrupted the downward trend in the basic interest rate that began in April, maintaining interest rates at 13.75% per year.

In a statement, the Copom reported that uncertainties have increased in recent weeks and that inflation expectations remain above the target. The body did not give any clues about the trajectory of interest rates in the next meetings.

The basic interest rate, the Selic, is the main instrument used by the BC to control inflation. Over the last 12 months, the index rose from 4.5% to 4.62%, above the target ceiling of 4.5%.

The current interest rate is the target of criticism from experts and the industry. The National Confederation of Industry states that maintaining interest rates through the Copom is “unjustifiable” and costly for companies and families.

“It is possible to continue reducing interest rates at a pace compatible with the convergence of inflation towards the target, without imposing a greater cost on the economy”, stated the president of the CNI, Ricardo Alban.

Public debt

High interest rates are the main cause of the increase in public debt, according to data from the Central Bank. In the last twelve months, interest consumed more than R$1.1 trillion from the public budget, which represents 8.9% of Brazilian GDP.

With the re-election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, financial market agents have been demanding a spending cut as a way of stabilizing public debt, which went from 71.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022 to around 82.9% of GDP in August 2026.