Brazil’s central bank monetary policy committee Wednesday held the country’s base Selic interest rate unchanged at 11% for a third straight meeting despite still elevated local inflation. The decision came as Brazil’s IPCA consumer price index through July ran near the 6.5% top end of the country’s inflation targeting band.  The latest decision to hold the rate unchanged was nonetheless widely expected among analysts as the government of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff seeks to avoid negative fallout from the economy ahead of the country’s presidential elections on Oct. 5.  Last week Brazil’s IBGE statistics institute reported the economy contracted by 0.6% in the second quarter, putting the country into a technical recession. According to the central bank’s latest weekly market survey, the country’s economy is seen growing only by about 0.5% this year after an expansion of 2.3% posted in 2013.