Brazil’s Constituent Assembly has voted to put...

Brazil’s Constituent Assembly has voted to put constitutional limits on interest rates. The assembly voted to limit real interest rates to 12% a year in the new constitution that it has been preparing since 1987. The author of the amendment approved by the assembly, deputy Fernando Gasparian, told reporters, “Charging real interest rates higher than 12% will be punished as the crime of usury.” With inflation in Brazil running at about 20% per month, nominal interest rates are sky-high. In real terms, financial institutions in Sao Paulo, the business capital, are charging between 27% and 80% for personal loans.