LatinNews Daily - 13 March 2024

*Brazil’s national statistics institute (Ibge) has released its latest inflation figures, showing a monthly inflation rate in February of 0.83%, putting annual inflation at 4.50%. This is up from monthly inflation of 0.42% in January and 0.56% in December. Of the nine categories of products and services measured, seven registered monthly price rises in February. The category with the highest inflation was education (4.98%), which the Ibge attributed to “the usual readjustments made at the start of the school year”. After education, the next two highest monthly inflation rates were registered for communication (1.56%) and food & beverages (0.95%). Inflation in the communication category was mainly driven by the fees of TV subscriptions (4.02%). According to the Ibge, the rise in food prices in February was influenced by climate conditions, such as higher temperatures and heavy rainfall.