By Jeffrey T. Lewis
SÃO PAULO–Brazil’s 12-month inflation rate rose in the month through mid-August after electricity bills increased with the end of a temporary discount.
Consumer prices rose 0.28% from July 16 through Aug.15 and rose 4.24% from a year earlier, Brazil’s Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, said Friday. Consumer prices fell 0.7% in the month through mid-July and increased 3.19% in the 12 months through mid-July.
The mammoth Itaipu power station on the Paraná river between Brazil and Paraguay generated a profit in 2022, and in July some of that money was returned to Brazilian energy users in the form of a discount on their electric bills.
The biggest increase among the nine categories measured by the IBGE in its inflation report came in housing, with a rise of 1.08%. Housing costs declined 0.94% in the month through mid-July after the discount reduced electricity prices. Residential power prices increased 4.59% in the month through mid-August after the discount ended.
Food prices continued to decline in Brazil, falling 0.65% in the August period after retreating 0.40% in the previous period. Clothing prices fell 0.03% in the August period following an increase of 0.04% a month earlier.
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