While the Government is committed to maintaining the inflation below 3% in January, a consulting firm revealed a jump in food and drink prices in the first week of the year.
A report from the consulting firm LCG, which surveys prices of 8,000 foods and beverages from five large supermarkets, the year started with a 1.2% increase in food items, after showing no variations in the last section of 2024.
While waiting for the official data for December, which will be announced next Tuesday the 14th, the ruling party is confident that the inflation rate will remain below 3% and that during 2025 it will maintain a downward trend.
However, the behavior of food and beverage prices in the first days of the year calls into question the Government’s expectations.
More than 45% of the weekly increase was explained by the Beverages category, with an increase 3 times greater than the average.
Baking products, cereals and pastas and meats also had weight in the weekly incidence.
These increases, however, were partially offset by Vegetables, with a sharp drop in prices, and Fruits.
In addition, a significant reduction was recorded in products without price changes: -15 pp in one week (71% of the total surveyed).
When the monthly variation is analyzed, Vegetables also works as a compensator for increases in other items.
In addition, the report highlights that the average variation of the last four weeks of the index without Meats would be slightly negative, of 0.1%.
The economic consultants that participate in the Market Expectations Survey (REM) released by the Central Bank estimated monthly inflation of 2.9% for December.
This number, which would present a rebound in relation to the November figure, would still be welcomed by the government, since the last month of the year usually presents increases due to the end of the year holidays and that the figure has not broken the 3% ceiling yet. with several rate corrections.
If this forecast is met, the Government would be able to maintain the CPI at a level similar to that of the crawling peg, which would lower the rate of devaluation of the official exchange rate in mid-January.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
