* Brazil’s national statistics institute (Ibge) has released the consumer price index (IPCA) for August, showing a monthly inflation rate of 0.23% and annual rate of 4.61% for the 12 months until August 2023. This marks an increase from the 0.12% monthly inflation and 3.99% annual inflation registered in July. Monthly inflation had been slowing since February and even registered deflation in June (-0.08%), but July and August have seen monthly inflation rise again. Of the nine categories of products and services measured for the IPCA, six categories saw a monthly rise in prices, with August’s inflation mainly driven by housing (1.11%), education (0.69%) and health & personal care (0.58%). The inflation registered in the housing category was mainly driven by the 4.59% monthly price increase for household electricity.