(Bloomberg) -- Brazil analysts lowered their 2024 benchmark interest rate projections after the central bank reaffirmed plans to maintain its pace of monetary easing for the coming months.

The Selic will fall to 9% by December 2024, down from the prior estimate of 9.25%, according to a weekly central bank economist survey published Tuesday. Borrowing costs will fall to 8.5% by the end of 2025, the release showed.

Policymakers led by Roberto Campos Neto lowered rates to 11.75% this month and pledged more half-point cuts well into next year. Headline inflation is slowing, and measures of consumer price growth that exclude volatile items like energy and food are cooling down. Board members also trimmed their 2024 economic growth forecasts as strong consumption wanes.

Read More: Brazil Cuts Rates by Half-Point, Cues Same Pace Into 2024

The central bank has now cut the Selic by two percentage points since August. Still, estimates for medium-term inflation remain above the bank’s 3% goal for 2024, with analysts seeing price increases at 3.91% next year. 

In their quarterly inflation report released Dec. 21, policymakers trimmed their 2024 economic growth forecast to 1.7% from 1.8%. They see a moderation in agriculture and consumption, saying family income will take a hit as the twin boost of lower food prices and higher government spending loses force. 

Brazil’s fiscal outlook remains uncertain as Finance Minister Fernando Haddad negotiates with Congress a series of bills that would increase revenues to fund President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s social and infrastructure programs. 

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.