The General Price Index – Internal Availability (IGP-DI) rose 0.04%, slightly less than that recorded in January, of 0.06%. In the year, the indicator accumulates an increase 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 was released this Tuesday (7) by the Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Ibre/FGV).
IPA
The Broad Producer Price Index (IPA) fell 0.04% in February, while in the previous month the drop was 0.19%. According to Ibre, in the assessment by processing stages, the rate for the Final Goods group went from falling 0.04% in January to rising 0.21% in February. The item fuels for consumption, which, from a decrease of 2.31% in January, reached an increase of 3.84% in February, was the main influence on the acceleration of the rate. The Final Goods index, which results from the exclusion of fresh food and fuels for consumption, went from an increase of 0.15% in January to a decrease of 0.49% in February.
According to Ibre, the rate for the Intermediate Goods group went from falling 1.19% in January to falling 0.70% in February. “The main responsible for the less intense drop was the subgroup fuels and lubricants for production, whose rate went from minus 3.98% to minus 3.54%”, he informed, adding that the Intermediate Goods index, calculated after excluding fuels and lubricants for production had a sharper drop in February, of 0.12% compared to the previous year, when it recorded a reduction of 0.60%.
After advancing 0.79% in January, the Raw Raw Materials stage rose 0.44% in February. The result was favored by the performance of iron ore items, which went from 7.05% to 2.63%; soybeans fell from 1.53% to 3.06%, and cattle fell from 1.08% to 2.37%. In the opposite movement, coffee beans (0.92% to 10.07%), fresh milk (0.03% to 3.07%) and sugar cane (-0.70% to 0.72%) remained.
CPI
The Consumer Price Index (IPC), after growing 0.80% in January, changed by 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 variation, 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 telephone combo , internet and pay TV (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 Miscellaneous Expenses (0.97% to 1.01%) recorded an increase in their fees. “These expense classes were influenced by the following items: residential rent (-1.08% to 2.71%), hygiene and personal care items (-0.17% to 1.35%), clothing (-0.20% to 0.49%) and banking services ( 1.26% to 1.49%)”, points out the research.
Core
The core CPI rose to 0.36% in February, while in January it was 0.28%. Of the 85 items that make up the IPC, 23 were excluded from the core calculation. Among them, 10 presented rates below minus 0.34% and 13 registered variations above 0.80%. Ibre also reported 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 that recorded in January. That month it was 69.68%.
INCC
The National Construction Cost Index (INCC) rose 0.05% in February, which means a decrease compared to the previous month, when it registered 0.46%. The three groups that make up the INCC had different behaviors from January to February. Materials and Equipment went from an increase of 0.05% to a decrease of 0.12%; Services fell from 1.02% to 0.97% and Labor from 0.70% to 0.02%.
For the Price Indices coordinator, André Braz, although the producer index showed a less intense drop (from minus 0.19% to minus 0.04%), the other indices that make up the general indicator decelerated, which kept the average variation of the PGI.
“Consumer inflation [from 0.80% to 0.34%] fell due to the slowdown in the Education, Reading and Recreation group and inflation for construction [from 0.46% to 0.05%] gave way in the face of the less intense increase recorded for the prices of Materials, Equipment and Services and Labor”, said Ibre.