RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil registered 0.24 percent inflation in August, the highest rate for that month since 2016, when prices rose 0.44 percent, the state-run Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said on Wednesday.
According to the IBGE, August inflation was lower than July (0.36 percent) but more than double the rate seen in August of last year (0.11 percent).
So far this year, accumulated inflation stands at 0.7 percent, while the rate for the 12 months ending in August stands at 2.44 percent.
The Brazilian government set an inflation target of 4 percent for this year, with a 1.5 percent margin of error allowing the index to range from 2.5 percent to 5.5 percent.
Brazil’s financial market has forecast 1.78 percent inflation for the year.
Of the nine groups of products and services analyzed, six saw price increases in August, led by transportation (0.82 percent), food and beverages (0.78 percent) and communication (0.67 percent).
Other areas saw price drops in August, including education (-3.47 percent), clothing (-0.78 percent) and personal expenses (-0.01 percent).
“Making the biggest dent in consumers’ pocketbooks were mainly gasoline, which rose for the third month in a row, and food, which saw a certain price stability in July, but rose again in August. For lower-income families, the impact is greater,” said the IBGE.–Agencies
