In March, the cost of the basic food basket fell in 13 of the 17 Brazilian capitals that are analyzed by the National Survey of the Basic Food Basket, prepared monthly by the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (Dieese).
According to data from the survey released today (10), the biggest drops in the cost of the basic food basket occurred in Recife (-4.65%), Belo Horizonte (-3.72%), Brasília (-3.67%), Fortaleza ( -3.49%) and João Pessoa (-3.42%). On the other hand, there was an increase in the price of baskets in Porto Alegre (0.65%), São Paulo (0.37%), Belém (0.24%) and Curitiba (0.13%).
In March, the most expensive basket in the country was in São Paulo, where the average price of products reached R$ 782.23. Next were baskets from Porto Alegre (R$746.12), Florianópolis (R$742.23), Rio de Janeiro (R$735.62) and Campo Grande (R$719.15). In the North and Northeast of the country, where the composition of the basket is a little different, it was cheaper. In Aracaju, the cheapest basket in the country was found, where the average cost was R$ 546.14.
Based on the value of the most expensive basket, which in March was that of São Paulo, and taking into account the constitutional determination that establishes that the minimum wage must be sufficient to cover expenses with food, housing, health, education, clothing, hygiene, transportation, leisure and social security, Dieese estimated that the ideal minimum wage should be R$ 6,571.52, which means that it should be five times higher than the current minimum wage, R$ 1,302.
