Cristiane Ribeiro
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Rio - The Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA) rose 0.41% in February, less than the 0.59% increase registered in January. The index suffered the upward pressure of monthly school fees, which rose 5.38%. The biggest increase occurred in Rio de Janeiro (0.74%), in consequence of the 5.56% increase in bus fares, while the smallest increase was in Goiània (0.06%).

According to the report released today (10) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the reason the increase was not greater is due to price declines in the clothing group (-0.54%), domestic items (-0.39%), and food and beverages (-0.29%). The IPCA is used by the government to set its inflation targets.

The prices used to measure the IPCA are gathered in 11 regions (Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Recife, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Fortaleza, São Paulo, Belém, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, and Goiânia), based on the spending of families that earn between one and forty monthly minimum wages (US$ 139 to US$ 5,520).

Translation: David Silberstein