Rio, August 21, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Broad Consumer Price Index-15 (IPCA-15) registered a 0.27% increase in August, compared to a 0.18% decline in July, according to results released today by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The rise was mainly due to increases in telephone rates, which went from 4.55% in July to 5.45% in August, and electricity bills, which rose from 1.00% to 2.03%.

August's index was also influenced by readjustments in the salaries of domestic workers (from 1.24% in July to 2.17% in August), as well as the reduced rate in the decline of gasoline prices (from -4.51% in July to =1.23% in August) and food prices (from -1.02% in July to -0.32% in August).

Adding August's results, the cumulative rate for the year stands at 7.84%, and the cumulative rate for the last 12 months is 15.17%. In terms of region indexes, the only decline occurred in Fortaleza (-0.03%). The greatest increase was in Belém (0.48%), followed by Salvador (0.36%). In Rio de Janeiro the rate was 0.26%; in São Paulo, 0.30%. (DAS)