MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil inflation 0.75% in March and 4.58% in twelve months

Inflation for the past 12 months was 4.58%, exceeding the Central Bank goal of 4.25%, although it is within the limit of tolerance of 1.5 points in either direction.

Brazil's inflation rate hit 0.75% in March, the fourth straight month of increases and the highest for the month since 2015 when it registered 1.32%, Brazil's National Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said on Wednesday.

According to an IBGE report, March's figure was up from the 0.43% registered in February 2019 and the 0.09% registered in March 2018. During the first three months of this year, inflation increased a total of 1.51%, the highest for the period since the 2.62% recorded in 2016.

The cumulative rate for the past 12 months is 4.58%, exceeding the goal set by the Central Bank of 4.25%, although it is within the limit of tolerance of 1.5 points in either direction.

The increase in prices for March was influenced primarily by food (1.37%) and transportation (1.44%).

In 2018, Brazil saw an inflation rate of 3.75%, within the goal set by the government. The financial market foresees a price increase of 3.9% this year.