Consumer prices tracked by the benchmark IPCA index rose 4.48 percent in the 12 months through July, government statistics agency IBGE said on Wednesday, slightly above the median 4.40 percent forecast of economists in a Reuters poll.

That is a bit slower than the 4.53 percent rate seen in mid-July, suggesting a sharp acceleration in inflation from less than 3 percent earlier this year may have come to an end.

Truckers protesting high diesel prices blocked major highways in the final weeks of May, forcing farmers to cull their flocks and dump milk, and driving widespread product shortages.

But food prices, the category most affected by the strike, fell 0.12 percent in July as supplies normalized around the country.

Consumer prices as a whole rose 0.33 percent from a month earlier, compared to a 1.26 percent increase in June and a tad more than the 0.27 percent consensus in the Reuters poll.

Higher power rates after scarce rains dampened hydropower generation, however, and prevented an even steeper deceleration.

The reading highlights how a weaker-than-expected recovery in the economy, which took a further hit from the late-May protests, is curbing the outlook for inflation and allowing the central bank to keep rates low for a long time.

The bank last week kept the benchmark Selic rate at a record 6.50 percent for a third straight policy-setting meeting, and suggested there would be no rate hikes in the immediate future as inflation expectations remained under control.