Brazil posts deflation in April

The 0.31% slip was pulled mainly by fuels

Published on 08/05/2020 - 12:39 By Vitor Abdala - Rio de Janeiro

Brazil’s National Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA), which gauges the country’s official inflation, saw a deflation of 0.31 percent in April this year—the lowest monthly variation since August 1998 (-0.51%).

In March this year, inflation had stood at 0.07 percent. In April 2019, however, the rate reached 0.57 percent. The data were published today (May 8) by the government statistics institute IBGE.

With the result, the IPCA is up 0.22 percent year-to-date and 2.40 percent month-on-month.

The main contribution to April’s deflation came from transport, down 2.66 percent in the month. The fall was pulled mainly by fuels (-9.59%). Gasoline slipped 9.31 percent, ethanol 13.51 percent, diesel oil 6.09 percent, and compressed natural gas 0.79 percent.

On the other hand, foods saw an inflation of 1.79 percent, preventing the IPCA from facing an ever sharper contraction. The only other group with an increase was clothing (0.10%).

IBGE researcher Pedro Kislanov said there is a connection between the restriction in offer, expected in the first months of the year, and the expansion in the demand brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, with people going to the supermarket more and cooking in more often.

Translation: Fabrício Ferreira -  Edition: Aline Leal / Nira Foster

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