The General Price Index – Internal Availability (IGP-DI) increased by 0.04%, slightly less than the 0.06% recorded in January. In the year, the indicator accumulates highs of 0.09% and 1.53% in 12 months. In the same month last year, it had advanced 1.50% and accumulated an increase of 15.35% in 12 months. The data were disclosed this Tuesday (7) by the Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Ibre/FGV).
IPA
The Broad Producer Price Index (IPA) dropped by 0.04% in February, while in the previous month the drop was 0.19%. According to Ibre, in the evaluation by stages of processing, the rate of the Final Goods group went from a drop of 0.04% in January to a high of 0.21% in February. The item of fuel for consumption, which, from a 2.31% drop in January, reached a 3.84% increase in February, was the main influence on the acceleration of the rate. The Finished Goods index, which results from the exclusion of fresh food and fuel for consumption, moved from an advance of 0.15% in January to a retraction of 0.49% in February.
According to Ibre, the rate for the Intermediate Goods group dropped from 1.19% in January to a drop of 0.70% in February. “The main factor responsible for the less intense fall was the subgroup fuels and lubricants for production, whose rate went from minus 3.98% to minus 3.54%,” he said, adding that the Intermediate Goods index, calculated after excluding fuels and lubricants for production, had a sharper fall in February, of 0.12% in comparison with the previous year, when it recorded a reduction of 0.60%.
After advancing 0.79% in January, the Crude Raw Materials stage rose 0.44% in February. The result was favored by the performance of iron ore items, which changed from 7.05% to 2.63%; soybeans from 1.53% to 3.06%, and cattle, from 1.08% to minus 2.37%. On the contrary, coffee beans (0.92% to 10.07%), fresh milk (0.03% to 3.07%) and sugar cane (-0.70% to 0.72 %).
CPI
The Consumer Price Index (IPC) after growing 0.80% in January changed 0.34% in February. According to Ibre, four of the eight expense classes that make up this indicator showed a reduction in their rates of change, such as Education, Reading and Recreation (from 3.28% to -0.80%), Food (from 0.48% to -0 .03%), Transport (from 0.92% to 0.43%) and Communication (from 0.73% to 0.67%). “In these expense classes, it is worth mentioning the behavior of the following items: formal courses (7.45% to 0.00%), vegetables (-0.27% to -7.09%), gasoline (1.12 % to -0.26%) and telephony, internet and pay TV combo (1.66% to 0.96%)”, noted Ibre in a text published on the FGV website.
In different performances, the groups Housing (0.26% to 0.60%), Health and Personal Care (0.42% to 0.84%), Clothing (-0.08% to 0.36%) and Expenses Several (0.97% to 1.01%) recorded increases in their rates. “These expense classes were influenced by the following items: residential rent (-1.08% to 2.71%), toiletries and personal care (-0.17% to 1.35%), clothing (-0. 20% to 0.49%) and banking services (1.26% to 1.49%)”, points out the survey.
Core
The core CPI rose to 0.36% in February, while in January it had been 0.28%. Of the 85 items comprising the IPC, 23 were excluded from the core calculation. Among them, 10 had rates below minus 0.34% and 13 recorded variations above 0.80%. The Ibre also informed that the diffusion index, which measures the proportion of items with a positive rate of change, reached 60%, which represents 9.68 percentage points below the registered in January. That month it had stayed at 69.68%.
INCC
The National Construction Cost Index (INCC) increased by 0.05% in February, which means a decrease in relation to the previous month, when it registered 0.46%. The three groups that make up the INCC behaved differently from January to February. Materials and Equipment rose 0.05% to fall 0.12%; Services retreated from 1.02% to 0.97% and Labor from 0.70% to 0.02%.
For the coordinator of Price Indices, André Braz, although the producer index has shown a less intense fall (from minus 0.19% to minus 0.04%), the other component indices of the general indicator decelerated, which remained practically stable the average variation of the IGP.
“Consumer inflation [de 0,80% para 0,34%] retreated given the slowdown in the Education, Reading and Recreation group and inflation for civil construction [de 0,46% para 0,05%] yielded in the face of the less intense increase registered for the prices of Materials, Equipment and Services and Labor”, said Ibre.
