Inflation preview
Airfares hold IPCA-15, which records the lowest March since Plano Real
March 25, 2020 09h00 AM | Last Updated: March 26, 2020 12h50 PM
The inflation preview recorded 0.02% in March, influenced by the retraction of 16.88% in airfare prices, the lowest result for this month since the beginning of the "Plano Real" (1994). The item represents the highest negative impact, contributing with -0.11 percentage points (pp) to the Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 (IPCA-15), released today (25) by the IBGE.
With this result, the IPCA-E (IPCA-15 accrued in the quarter) stood at 0.95%. In 12 months, the index reached 3.67%, below the 4.21% result recorded in the previous 12 months.
Besides airfares, which had lower prices for the third consecutive month (-6.45%, in January, and -6.68%, in February), the decrease of gasoline (-1.18%), ethanol (-1.06%), diesel fuel (-1.95%) and vehicular gas (-0.89%), in fuels (-1.19%), also influenced the group Transportation (-0.80%). This group, which has the main weight in household expenditures, performed the highest deflation in this month.
In Housing (-0.28%), the decrease is explained mainly by the item electricity (-1.30%), since the green tariff flag is in effect, without any additional charges
The group Food and Beverage, the second main weight in household expenditures, recorded increase of 0.35% in March, after going down 0.10% in February. Food at home, which had recorded fall in February (-0.32%), rose 0.49% in March, influenced by highs in carrots (23.92%), hen eggs (5.10%), tomatoes (4.93%) and long-life milk (1.37%). Furthermore, meat (-1.81%) recorded the least intense decrease in relation to February (-5.04%).
The prices set in the IPCA-15 of March were all collected face-to-face between February 12 and March 16. Due to the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19), the IBGE is adapting its methodologies fso that the next index releases are based on online and telephone collection.
