Brazil's official inflation rate based on the Broad Consumer Price Index (“IPCA”) stood at 0.69% last February – higher than that of January (0.55%) and February 2013 (0.6%).
According to the figures announced Wednesday (Mar. 12) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (“IBGE”), the cumulative inflation index reached 1.24% in 2014 and 5.68% in the twelve-month period.
This increase in February was caused mainly by spending on education, which registered a 5.97% inflation rate this month, as a result of the traditional rise in tuition fees of schools and courses this time of year.
Costs in nursery schools showed a 11.36% rise, whereas spending on elementary schools grew 10.01%. High school monthly fees rose 9.9%.
Despite being lower than their January counterparts (0.84%), food and beverage prices rose 0.56% – the second greatest impact reported by February's IPCA.
The Broad Consumer Price Index aims to measure the inflation of a group of products and services sold on retail to families with a monthly income of one to forty minimum wages (the minimum wage is currently around US$ 309 in Brazil), whatever their source of income may be.
This survey is conducted by IBGE on a monthly basis, and has been the official index of Brazil’s Central Bank for monitoring inflation targets since June, 1999.
Translated by Augusto Queiroz and Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Brazil’s February inflation hits 0.69%
