SAO PAULO, MAY 6 (XINHUA) -- THE LATEST "FOCUS SURVEY" REPORT RELEASED BY THE BRAZILIAN CENTRAL BANK ON THE 6TH LOCAL TIME SHOWS THAT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS HAVE ONCE AGAIN LOWERED THEIR ECONOMIC GROWTH EXPECTATIONS FOR BRAZIL THIS YEAR.THIS REPORT IS COMPILED FROM THE OPINIONS OF 100 ANALYSTS FROM MAJOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN BRAZIL. IN THE REPORT, ANALYSTS LOWERED BRAZIL'S ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST FOR THIS YEAR FROM 1.7% TO 1.49%, THE FIRST TIME IT HAS FALLEN BELOW 1.5%, MARKING THE TENTH CONSECUTIVE REDUCTION IN THIS YEAR'S ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST. HOWEVER, ANALYSTS MAINTAIN BRAZIL'S ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST FOR NEXT YEAR AT 2.5% UNCHANGED.ANALYSTS HAVE ALSO RAISED BRAZIL'S INFLATION FORECAST FOR THIS YEAR FROM 4.01% TO 4.04%, AND THE INFLATION FORECAST FOR NEXT YEAR REMAINS AT 4%. THESE TWO INFLATION DATA ARE BOTH WITHIN THE RANGE OF THE MEDIAN INFLATION CONTROL TARGETS OF 4.25% AND 4% SET BY THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS.AS FOR THE BENCHMARK INTEREST RATE, ANALYSTS BELIEVE THAT BRAZIL'S BENCHMARK INTEREST RATE WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED AT THE CURRENT 6.5% UNTIL THE END OF THIS YEAR. BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR, THE BENCHMARK INTEREST RATE WILL BE RAISED TO 7.5%.AS FOR THE EXCHANGE RATE, ANALYSTS PREDICT THAT BY THE END OF THIS YEAR, THE EXCHANGE RATE BETWEEN THE BRAZILIAN REAL AND THE US DOLLAR WILL REMAIN AT A LEVEL OF 3.75-1. BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR, THE EXCHANGE RATE WILL DEPRECIATE TO 3.8:1.IN TERMS OF FOREIGN TRADE, ANALYSTS PREDICT THAT BRAZIL'S TRADE SURPLUS THIS YEAR WILL INCREASE FROM THE PREVIOUS $50 BILLION TO $50.39 BILLION. NEXT YEAR, THE FOREIGN TRADE SURPLUS WILL REMAIN AT A LEVEL OF 46 BILLION US DOLLARS.ANALYSTS ALSO PREDICT THAT BRAZIL'S UTILIZATION OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT THIS YEAR WILL REMAIN AT A LEVEL OF 82 BILLION US DOLLARS. NEXT YEAR, THE AMOUNT OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT UTILIZED WILL REACH 85 BILLION US DOLLARS, SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THE PREVIOUSLY ESTIMATED 84.68 BILLION US DOLLARS.