SAO PAULO: Brazil’s IPCA-15 consumer price index, which tracks mid-month inflation in Latin America’s largest economy, ended 2022 with an annual 5.9% rise, roughly in line with economists’ forecasts, data from statistics agency IBGE showed on Friday.

The annual rate, which peaked at 12.2% in May, has been cooling recently after an aggressive monetary tightening by the central bank and government measures to tame high inflation.

It dropped from 6.17% in the previous month and essentially matched economists’ expectations of 5.92% in a Reuters poll, though remaining well above the central bank’s target of 3.5% for this year.

In 2021, amid strong inflationary pressures, the IPCA-15 index closed the year at 10.42%, its highest level since 2015.

Food and beverage costs had the largest impact on the index this year, the statistics agency noted, as they jumped 11.96% in the period.

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On a monthly basis, IBGE reported a 0.52% rise in the month to mid-December, compared with 0.53% in November, propelled mainly by higher food and transportation costs, and as forecast in a Reuters poll.