LatinNews Daily - 13 May 2024

*Brazil’s national statistics institute (Ibge) has released its consumer price index (Ipca) for April, showing a monthly inflation rate of 0.38% and an annual rate of 3.69%. The latest monthly figure marks an acceleration from the 0.16% inflation registered for March but has slowed in year-on-year terms from the 0.61% inflation in April 2023. Of the nine categories of products and services measured, seven registered a monthly rise in prices in April this year. The categories which registered the highest monthly inflation were health & personal care (1.16%) and food & drinks (0.70%). In a press release, the Ibge highlighted that the Câmara de Regulação do Mercado de Medicamentos (CMED), an inter-ministerial government body responsible for regulating the pharmaceutical market, had decided to raise the price limit of medicines by 4.5% from the end of March. Regarding the rise in food prices in April, the Ibge pointed to climate-related factors which have affected food production towards the end of 2023 and since the start of 2024.