Brazil’s First Price Drop Since 2023 Undershoots Forecasts

Brazil’s consumer prices posted the first monthly drop in two years earlier in August on cheaper food and electricity, offering limited relief to shoppers as the central bank pledges to keep interest rates high.

Official data released Tuesday show consumer prices fell 0.14% in mid-August, the first decline since mid-July 2023, falling short of the -0.2% median forecast from analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Prices rose 4.95% from a year prior.