Finance Minister: controlling inflation priority in 2016

Controlling inflation is a priority for the government in 2016, reported on Friday (Jan. 8) Finance Minister Nelson Barbosa. In a statement, he reaffirmed the commitment of the government's economic staff to the fiscal adjustment in order to help bring down the National Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA), which measures inflation, to the target's center, 4.5%, in 2017.

"Controlling inflation is a priority and the Central Bank (BC) is committed to adopt the necessary measures to reach the target's center, set by the National Monetary Council (CMN) until the end of 2017. The Finance Ministry will help fight inflation by carrying out actions for fiscal rebalancing and increasing the productivity of the economy," announced the minister.

Earlier, the Central Bank published an open letter to set out reasons for the burst of inflation, well above the target ceiling of 6.5% in 2015. The official price index, the IPCA, closed the year at 10.67%, the highest level since 2002 (12.53%). The last time the Central Bank sent the document had been in 2003, when the index closed the year at 9.30%.

Even with the slowdown from November to December, the IPCA rate for the last month of 2015 has been the highest for December since 2002. The IPCA refers to the high prices that affect families earning an income from one to 40  minimum wages and examines 11 major metropolitan areas (Belém, Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Curitiba, Vitória, Porto Alegre and Brasília), and also the cities of Goiânia and Campo Grande.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta

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