LatinNews Daily - 13 March 2026

*Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has implemented a series of measures aimed at protecting Brazilian consumers amid the global volatility in oil prices resulting from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Among the main measures is a decree signed by Lula yesterday (12 March) to reduce the PIS/Cofins consumption tax rate on diesel to zero. According to a government press release, this is expected to reduce diesel prices in Brazil by R$0.32 (US$0.06) per litre. Lula also signed a ‘medida provisória’ (MP), another type of executive decree, to subsidise diesel producers and importers. The Lula administration’s efforts to keep fuel prices down come amid a recent acceleration in monthly inflation, which came alongside a slowdown in annual inflation. Yesterday the national statistics institute (Ibge) released the inflation figures for February, showing a monthly inflation rate of 0.70%, up from 0.33% in January, but an annual rate of 3.81%, down from 4.44% in the 12 months through January. The two categories of products and services that saw the highest monthly price increases in February were education (+5.21%), due to the start of the academic year last month, and transport (+0.74%), although fuel prices were not the main driver of monthly inflation in the transport category. Significant price rises were registered by air travel (+11.4%) and car insurance (+5.62%), but fuel registered a monthly price decrease of 0.47%.

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