*Chile’s national statistics institute (INE) has released new figures which show that in December 2023, monthly inflation stood at -0.5%, bringing the yearly rate to 3.9%. This compares to monthly inflation of 0.7% in November, when the annual inflation rate stood at 4.8%. Ten out of the 12 categories making up the IPC registered price decreases in monthly terms, the most significant being food & non-alcoholic drinks (-0.8%) and recreation & culture (-2.8%). The only category to register monthly price increases was restaurants & hotels (+0.8%), while education showed no variation on the previous month. The monthly deflation exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey, which had a -0.1% median forecast. The drop is likely to precede a further interest rate cut by Chile’s central bank (BCCh), with a monetary policy announcement due at the end of the month.
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