BRAZIL: Inflation In January Is The Lowest For The Month In 24 Years

(RTTNews) - The annual inflation rate in Brazil decelerated to 2.86% in January from 2.95% in December, rising less than the expected (2.99%) and remaining below the bottom of the central bank's target range, of between 3% to 6%.

In a monthly comparison, the Brazilian consumer price index rose 0.29% in January, also decelerating from a 0.44% increase in December, and reaching the lowest level since January 1994, said the IBGE. Analysts expected a 0.42% growth.

According to the Brazilian statistics office, except for Housing (-0.85%) and Clothing (-0.98%), all the other classes of expenses had inflation in January, notably Transportation (+1.10%) and Food and Beverages (+0.74%), but that was not enough to avoid a deceleration.

In these groups of expenditure, fuels prices increased by 2.58%, with gasoline rising by 2.44% in January and representing the highest individual impact on the monthly inflation rate (0.10 percentage point).

Meanwhile, the main relief came from electricity bills. Electricity was, on average, 4.73% cheaper in January, constituting a relief of 0.17 pp on the index.