Short for Sistema Especial de Liquidação e Custodia, that is, Special System of Clearance and Custody, SELIC is the Brazilian Central Bank's system for performing open market operations in execution of monetary policy

Monetary policy

Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment...

. The SELIC rate is the Banco Central de Brasil's overnight lending rate, which can be compared to the Federal Funds Rate

Federal funds rate

In the United States, the federal funds rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions actively trade balances held at the Federal Reserve, called federal funds, with each other, usually overnight, on an uncollateralized basis. Institutions with surplus balances in their accounts lend...

in the US.