Tuesday June 30, 10:06 PM
UPDATE 1-Brazil govt sets 2011 inflation target at 4.5 pct
BRASILIA, June 30 (Reuters) - Brazil's government set its inflation target for 2011 at 4.5 percent, Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo said on Tuesday, unchanged from the targets for 2009 and 2010.
The central bank uses the IPCA consumer price index as a guide when setting interest rates. The benchmark index rose 0.47 percent in May, little changed from April, but some fear a recovery in Latin America's largest economy may spark an uptick in consumer prices.
The index rose 4.89 percent in the year to mid-June, near the center of the target.
Brazil's central bank has reduced interest rates by 450 basis points since the beginning of the year, cutting in four straight policy meetings to help lift Latin America's largest economy out of recession.
The economy contracted 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2009, after a 3.6 percent plunge in the fourth quarter of last year. It is expected to contract 0.5 percent in 2009, according to the latest weekly central bank survey of local financial institutions, against more than 5 percent growth in 2008.
(Reporting by Isabel Versiani and Ana Paula Paiva; Writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Dan Grebler) Keywords: BRAZIL ECONOMY/INFLATION
|
|
|
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
