Nielmar de Oliveira
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Rio - Diminished pressure from food and clothing prices allowed the General Price Index 10 (IGP -10) to end the month of February with a 0.31% increase in inflation. This result was 0.11% less than in January.

According to the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, responsible for the study, the decline was the result of fallbacks in wholesale, retail, and construction prices. With this result, the overall increase in the IGP-10 during the 12 months ending in February came to 11.53%.

The Wholesale Price Index (IPA), which has a weight of 60% in the composition of the IGP-10, dropped from 0.27% in January to 0.17% in February, while the National Index of Construction Costs (INCC), which has a weight of 10%, was down from 0.70% in January to 0.47% in February. Retail prices, measured by the Consumer Price Index (IPC) and with a weight of 30% in the IGP-10, decreased from 0.74% to 0.66% during the period.

The fall in the wholesale and retail prices of various food items and the smaller increases in transportation and clothing costs kept the increase in inflation betow analysts' expectations, which were projecting an increase of around 0.35%.

Translation: David Silberstein