Brazil Central Bank Head Sees Inflation Peaking in September

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s annual inflation has probably peaked in September and is now going to slow to policy makers’ 8.5% estimate by end-2021, according to central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto. 

“I think the high is going to be in September,” Campos Neto said at an event organized by Morgan Stanley on Friday, adding that prices tend to “accommodate” going forward. 

Brazil’s annual inflation surpassed 10% in mid-September for the first time since 2016 as fuel and food prices jumped. Brazil will publish September’s inflation data on Oct. 8, with analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expecting the annual rate to accelerate to 10.2% from 9.68% the month before.

Confronted with a recent rise in commodities costs, particularly oil, Campos Neto said that such increases have not been linear and that there’s great probability that prices will stabilize. In the minutes to their latest meeting, policy makers wrote that cheaper commodities, resulting from the impact of Covid-19 variants on Asian economies -- could contribute to slower inflation ahead.

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