MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's inflation accelerates to 4.39% in April driven by food and pharmaceuticals

The Central Bank of Brazil, which closely tracks the indicator, cut the Selic benchmark rate by half a percentage point at each of its two latest meetings, bringing it to 14.50% annually

Year-on-year inflation in Brazil accelerated to 4.39% in April, up from 4.14% in March, pressured mainly by rising prices for food and pharmaceuticals, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reported on Tuesday. The national consumer price index advanced 0.67% from the previous month, 0.21 percentage points below March, reflecting a slower monthly pace even as the annual comparison continues to climb.

Food and beverages posted a 1.34% monthly increase and accumulated a 3.44% rise in the first four months of the year. Within that category, the products that rose most were carrots, up 26.6%; long-life milk, up 13.6%; and onions, up 11.7%. Pharmaceuticals also weighed on the monthly result with a 1.77% increase, after the official authorization of an adjustment of up to 3.81% in drug prices starting in April.

Housing rose 0.63% in April, lifted by higher prices for cooking gas (3.74%) and residential electricity (0.72%). Transport, by contrast, decelerated sharply from a monthly 1.64% to 0.06%, helped by a 14.45% drop in airfares. Fuels, however, kept upward pressure with a 1.80% rise led by gasoline, which despite easing its pace contributed 0.10 percentage points to the monthly index.

The Central Bank of Brazil, which closely tracks the indicator, cut the Selic benchmark rate by half a percentage point at each of its two latest meetings, bringing it to 14.50% annually. Uncertainty linked to the conflict in the Middle East and the evolution of international crude oil prices casts doubt on whether the bank will keep easing at upcoming monetary policy committee meetings. Market expectations gathered in the institution's weekly Focus report place end-of-2026 inflation at around 4.91%, above the official 3% target with a tolerance band of one and a half percentage points.