Brazil's loan rates at 16-year low

Brazil's average interest rate on individual loans dropped to a 16-year low of 40.5 percent a year in June,

from 41.5 percent in the previous month, the Central Bank said Tuesday.

The decline can be attributed to a fall in loans with high interest rates such as overdraft protection programs, said the bank.

"It was the migration to cheaper credit loans instead of banks that reduced the interest rates," said Altamir Lopes, head of the economic department in the Central Bank.

The average interest rate on overdraft protection programs reached 165.1 percent a year while the personal loan rate fell from 43 percent a year in May to 42 percent in June, said the Central Bank.

Source: Xinhua