Brazil's currency faced a choppy market on Monday, opening sharply lower against the U.S. dollar after renewed criticism of interest rate levels by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva but paring losses after a central bank intervention.

Brazil’s interest rates are too high, and responsibility for the growing fiscal problems lies with policymakers at the central bank, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Sunday night in a TV interview.

The steepening sequence of interest-rate increases contrasts with most other central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, which are cutting rates.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva slammed what he sees as the country's excessively high interest rates, saying that borrowing costs were "the only thing wrong" with Brazil at the moment.

The recent surge in the dollar and uncertainties regarding inflation and the global economy prompted Brazil's Central Bank to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes.

Speaking in an interview with TV Globo aired late on Sunday, the leftist leader called the interest rate hikes "irresponsible" and said his government would "take care of that"