PHOTO
Image used for illustrative purpose. Workers are seen at a factory of Da Mata, the Brazilian sugar cane processor, in Valparaiso, 355 miles northwest of Sao Paulo in this September 18, 2014 file photo. In a sign of the distortions plaguing Brazil's stagnant economy, a wide range of companies are sharply cutting back output of their main products to instead sell electricity back into the national grid because it is more profitable. The trend includes sugar, ethanol, steel, aluminum and chemical companies, a Reuters analysis of company earnings statements and other guidance shows.Tax incentives and historically high electricity costs mean Brazilian factories are more likely than their peers in many other countries to produce their own energy. They sometimes burn biomass or use gas or even privately built hydroelectric dams. Picture taken September 18, 2014. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/Files
Brazil's consumer prices rose slightly less than expected in the mid-April reading, data from statistics agency IBGE showed on Friday.
Prices in Latin America's largest economy rose 0.21% in the month to mid-March, below the 0.29% growth expected by economists polled by Reuters.
This took the inflation of the previous 12 months to 3.77%, slowing down from 4.14% in the 12 months to mid-March and also below expectations of a 3.86% increase.
The group comprised of food and beverage reported the greatest price hike in the period, growing 0.61%, which accounted for 0.13 percentage points of the total increase.
The transportation group, on the other hand, was the only one to report disinflation, as airfare prices fell 12.2%.
(Reporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by Steven Grattan)
