Chile: Inflation picks up in September from August
Latest reading: Consumer prices rose 4.4% in annual terms in September, following a 4.0% rise in the prior month.
Relative to the prior month’s figures, there were higher price pressures for food and non-alcoholic beverages (+4.9% in annual terms vs +3.5% in August), housing, utilities and fuel (+9.8% vs +9.5% in August) and transportation (+0.4% vs +0.2% in August).
Meanwhile, core consumer prices were up 3.4% on a year-on-year basis in September, unchanged from the previous month’s reading.
Finally, consumer prices increased 0.44% in September on a month-on-month basis, following a flat reading in the previous month.
Panelist insight: On the inflation and monetary policy outlook, Itaú Unibanco analysts said:
“Before August, core inflation had been accelerating at the margin, raising concerns over the second-round effects of previous minimum wage hikes and electricity increases. Sequential quarterly pressure remains elevated. We expect inflation to end the year at 3.9% and to converge to the 3% target during 2Q26. Lower global oil prices, the expectation of a CLP recovery, a normalization of wage growth, and higher average interest rates will help consolidate the convergence path”