Brazil: Inflation ends 2018 below target
Consumer prices rose 0.15% in December over the previous month, contrasting November’s 0.21% drop. The rebound was largely due to higher prices for food and beverages, and smaller drags from falling prices for housing and transportation.
Inflation ended 2018 at 3.7%, at the lower end of the Central Bank’s target of 4.5% plus or minus 1.5 percentage points (2017: +2.9% end of period). Although inflation rose overall in 2018, a solid performance by the real in recent months, cuts in government-controlled prices and economic slack is limiting price pressures. Inflation averaged 3.7% in 2018, up slightly from 2017’s 3.5%.