The Extended Consumer Price Index -15 (IPCA-15) changed by -0.02% in July, a decrease considerably lower than the one registered in June, whose result was –0.15%.  As a consequence the index accumulated in the year was 1.68% and the index accumulated in the last twelve months was 3.89%.

The IPCA-15 referent to July will be the last one published by IBGE based on the weighing structures of the Consumer Expenditure Survey (POF) 1995-1996. The next results of the consumer price indexes, according to a technical note published in the website of the institution, will be calculated using the weighing structures of the POF 2002-2003.

A detailed release of this up-dating was published in December 2005, when the IBGE informed the methodology and criteria of the new weights.  Besides the information from the POF, other innovations were included, such as a change in the formula of calculation of seasonal food items, which will be calculated by Laspeyres instead of Paasche, as all the other items.

In July, the IPCA-15 fell less than in the previous month, even with the continuity of decreases or lesser increases of prices in many of the surveyed items. This occurred because fuels no longer brought a considerable downward influence. In fact, it was fuel alcohol that stopped to fall so much: although it was 3.76% cheaper in July, this item had fallen by 12.87% in June.  Alcohol is also responsible for 20% of the composition of gasoline and it also influenced the prices of this product to fall less: from a decrease of –1.45% in June, gasoline changed to –0.40% in July.

Food products (from –0.40% in June to –0.44% in July) continued with a similar downward trend. With a great supply in the market, several products turned cheaper.  Prices of tomatoes fell by 24.81%, while the ones of carioca beans fell by 9.92%. Other decreases in important products of household consumption were the following: green vegetables (-7.69%), jerked beef (-4.28%), fruits (-3.21%), black beans (-3.18%), fish (-2.09%) and meats (-0.85%). Some few food products, on the other hand, increased in the month, for example, garlic (8.79%), rice (3.19%) and soybean oil (1.97%).

Among the items with decrease stood out, also, cleaning products (-0.35%), new automobiles (-0.52%) and electricity (-0.19%), which fell by 4.19% in the metropolitan area of Curitiba.

Cooking gas (from 1.36% to 0.96%), apparel (from 0.91% to 0.46%) and medicines (from 0.52% to 0.13%) were products which had reduction in the growing rate from one month to the other.

Regarding the indexes by areas, Goiânia (0.40%), Fortaleza (0.31%), Belo Horizonte (0.13%), Recife (0.07%) and São Paulo (0.02%) did not have deflation.  The major result, the one from Goiânia (0.40%), was influenced, mainly, by water and sewerage account (3.08%) and by gasoline (1.62%). Brasília (-0.34%), where gasoline fell by 3.90% and alcohol by 5.48%, was the area with the lowest index by area.

For the calculation of the IPCA-15, prices collected in the period from June 13 to July 13 were compared to those charged from May 16 to June 12.  The IPCA-15 refers to families with monetary income ranging from 1 to 40 minimum salaries and includes the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Paulo, Belém, Fortaleza, Salvador and Curitiba, besides Brasília and Goiânia. The same methodology is used to calculate both IPCA and IPCA-15. The difference between the two indexes lies in the period of data collection. The other index, IPCA-E, consists of IPCA-15 accumulated by quarter.