SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil’s inflation resumed growth in September, despite the continuous easing in food prices, data from statistics agency IBGE showed on Thursday.
Consumer prices in Latin America’s largest economy rose 0.48% in September, up from a 0.11% drop in August, the agency said. The result came in slightly below the 0.52% expansion forecast by economists at a Reuters poll.
The food and beverage group, which is the heaviest component in the inflation basket, fell 0.26% in the month, marking the fourth straight drop, IBGE said.
“The household food group continues to show negative variations, given the greater supply of products,” IBGE research manager Fernando Goncalves said in a statement.
Over the 12 months through September, consumer prices rose 5.17%, accelerating from 5.13% in August. Brazil’s central bank targets inflation at 3%, with a tolerance band of 1.5 percentage points in either direction.
“The overall picture remains benign. September’s mild rebound mainly reflects base effects, while forward-looking indicators point to continued disinflation in the months ahead,” Pantheon Macroeconomics’ chief Latin America economist Andres Abadia said.
In its latest monetary policy decision last month, the central bank held interest rates steady at 15%, the highest in almost 20 years, and signaled it would keep them unchanged for a long time.
(Reporting by Isabel Teles; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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