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LATIN AMERICA | 11-07-2022 17:01

Brazil annual inflation rate rises to 11.89%

June brings accelerated inflation to Brazil, driven mainly by increased food costs, as Jair Bolsonaro’s re-election looms.

Brazil's inflation rate accelerated in June, driven mainly by rising food prices, to reach 11.89 percent over 12 months, the national statistics agency (IBGE) said Friday.

The rate was higher than the year-on-year inflation of 11.73 percent registered in May, said the IBGE agency.

Monthly inflation for June reached 0.67 percent, up from 0.47 percent the previous month.

The June rise "was influenced mainly by the increase of 0.8 percent in the food and beverages category," said an IBGE statement.

Like many countries, Latin America's biggest economy is battling high inflation which, measured year-on-year, has been in the double digits for the past 10 months.

So far this year, cumulative inflation has reached 5.49 percent, above the central bank target of five percent for the year as a whole. It is now projecting a figure closer to eight percent.

The increase in fuel prices, partly due to Russia's war on Ukraine, has been one of the main inflation drivers.

Tens of millions of Brazilians have seen their purchasing power eroded, with 33 million people living in hunger and more than half the population of 213 million facing food insecurity.

Brazil's economic woes have cost support for far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who will be seeking re-election in October with low approval ratings next to leftist former leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The country's Central Bank has raised the benchmark interest rate 11 times in a row to fight rising inflation.
 

– TIMES/AFP

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