São Paulo - The Cost of Living index in the municipality of São Paulo rose 0.69% in August, compared to 1.21% in July, reports the union-linked socio-economic study institute Dieese (Departamento Intersindical de Estatística e Estudos Sócio-Econômicos). Dieese says the September index should be about the same as August.

A spike in Food prices, up 1.34%, drove the index and inflation up in August. Other pressure came from Health prices (up 1.18% because of the rising costs of health plans) and Transportation (up 1.05% because of jumps in fuel prices, with alcohol up 9.59%).

Cornélia Nogueira Porto, who coordinates the Dieese price survey, says that the increases are within the bounds of government inflation targets. The official inflation target for the year is 5.5%, give or take 2.5 percentage points. "By December inflation will be around 7%," says Porto.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Flávia Albuquerque
Translator: Allen Bennett
09/02/2004