Rio de Janeiro, Jan 12 (AFP/APP): Brazil, Latin America’s biggest economy, on Tuesday recorded inflation of 4.52 percent in 2020 the highest in four years fueled by food prices which shot up more than 14 percent amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The official figure released by the IBGE statistics institute exceeded market predictions of 4.37 percent. The difference, according to the IBGE, is explained by a December inflation rate of 1.35 percent over November — the highest monthly jump since February 2003, when it was 1.57 percent.
The number is higher than the Central Bank’s four-percent inflation target. “Last year, the 14.09-percent rise in food and beverage prices weighed on the pockets of Brazilians,” said IBGE study leader Pedro Kislanov.
It reflected a global trend of rising product prices “in a year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added. The price of soy more than doubled, and that of rice, a Brazilian staple, rose by 76 percent.
The fruit became 25 percent more expensive and meat prices rose by nearly 18 percent.
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