BRASÍLIA: Brazil ended 2022 with inflation at close to six percent, a lower figure than the previous year but still above the government target, the official statistics institute said on Tuesday.

The government had targeted an increase of 3.5 percent but inflation ended the year at 5.8 percent.

It was the fourth successive year in which inflation had surpassed Brasilia’s target.

However, inflation had almost halved in comparison to the 10.1 percent recorded in 2021.

December inflation sat at 0.62 percent, a third straight month in which it increased, due in part to hikes in healthcare and food prices.

Inflation was one of the main concerns of voters in last October’s presidential elections when leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly unseated far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula, who took office on January 1, has promised to fight poverty that affects tens of millions of Brazilians.

The arrival of a left-wing government with plans to apply ambitious social programs has been met with nervousness by the markets fearing the public coffers will be raided leading to inflationary pressures at a time when that index appears to be improving.

In December, the central bank maintained its key interest rate at 13.75 percent due to “uncertainty” over inflation.

That rate had reached an all-time low of two percent in March 2021 as the bank tried to stimulate post-pandemic spending.