On 18 March 2025, in Rio de Janeiro - Central Zone (Rio de Janeiro), demonstrators protested against the increase in the SELIC rate in front of the Central Bank building in the Centro district. The action called the National Day of Mobilization Less Interest, More Jobs was attended by the CTB, FS, CUT, CSB, UGT, the Intersindical and NCST. The act was part of other demonstrations that took place across the country.

Supply-chain Risk Briefing

1) Summary On March 18, 2025, peaceful protests against the SELIC base rate hike occurred in front of the Central Bank building in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As part of nationwide demonstrations involving major labor union federations, the current risk level is assessed as low.

2) Supply-chain impact

• Increased financial policy uncertainty: Protests against base rate hikes indicate social conflict over Brazilian monetary policy, potentially affecting future exchange rate volatility and imported raw material costs
• Labor sector tensions: Joint demonstrations by major union federations could potentially expand into wage increase demands or labor disputes, posing latent risks to manufacturing productivity
• Rio de Janeiro logistics monitoring: Social instability in the Rio area, a major Brazilian port city, could indirectly impact maritime logistics and import-export activities
• Nationwide escalation concerns: Simultaneous nationwide protests could disrupt supply-chain operations if they spread to major industrial areas or transportation hubs

3) Watch points

• Scale and frequency of follow-up protests: Need to track changes in intensity of future union-led demonstrations and whether they spread to major industrial complexes or port areas
• Brazilian Central Bank policy response: Monitoring required for SELIC rate policy changes and corresponding social reactions, along with exchange rate and inflation trends