Rio - Inflation in the month of November rose to 0.69%, following October's level of 0.44%. According to data released today by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the increase in the Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA) was chiefly influenced by the rise in fuel prices. Gasoline prices rose 2.56%, while alcohol prices went up 11.17%, and cooking gas prices were 1.45% higher.

Cumulative inflation for the year through November amounted to 6.68%, below last year's 8.74% in the period-to-period comparison. The cumulative IPCA over the previous 12 months stood at 7.24%, greater than the result for the immediately preceding 12-month period (6.86%). In November, 2003, the inflation rate was 0.34%.

Among regions, the highest inflation rates were registered in Brasília (0.95%) and Belo Horizonte (0.90%), while the lowest rates occurred in Rio de Janeiro (0.50%) and Porto Alegre (0.52%).

The IPCA, the index used by the Central Bank to guide the government's inflation targets, refers to families with incomes between 1 and 40 minimum wages in nine metropolitan areas in Brazil (Belo Horizonte, São Paulo, Curitiba, Belém, Recife, Salvador, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, and Rio de Janeiro), as well as Brasília and the municipality of Goiânia.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Cristiane Ribeiro
Translator: David Silberstein
12/08/2004