Survey indicates that inflation is expected to get higher

Stênio Ribeiro

Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Forecasts for this year's inflation have been rising for five straight weeks, increasingly removed from the official target of 5.1% for the Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA), used as a parameter for government accounts. According to the survey conducted by the Central Bank last Friday (2), involving a hundred market analysts and financial institutions, the average expectation for this year's IPCA went up from 5.59%, last week, to 5.63%.

This information is contained in the Focus bulletin, released today (5). The forecast for November's inflation was raised from 0.45% to 0.50%. On the other hand, the prediction for December's IPCA was lowered from 0.37% to 0.36%. A downward trend is also foreseen for inflation over the next 12 months, with the IPCA projected for this period falling from 4.64% in the previous survey, to 4.56%, closer to the 4.50% target set by the National Monetary Council (CMN) for 2006.

Translation: David Silberstein