Brazil Inflation Eases To 4.56%, Lowest In 4 Months

(RTTNews) - Brazil's consumer price inflation slowed further in January to the lowest level in four months, figures from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, showed on Tuesday.

The consumer price index climbed 4.56 percent year-over-year in January, slower than the 4.83 percent rise in December. Economists had expected inflation to slow to 4.57 percent.

Nonetheless, the inflation rate is still above the central bank's upper tolerance band of 4.5 percent.

The annual price growth in food and non-alcoholic beverages eased to 7.25 percent in January from 7.65 percent in December. A renewed decline of 0.36 percent in housing and utilities also had a dampening effect on inflation.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.16 percent versus a 0.52 gain in December.

Further, this was the lowest monthly rate for January since the beginning of the Real Plan in 1994, the agency said.

The slower monthly rise was due to a 14.21 percent fall in costs for residential electricity.