April 8, 2015

Consumer prices in March increased 1.32% over the previous month. The print was above the 1.22% increase recorded in February, but undershot market expectations of a 1.39% rise. The result was driven largely by an increase in the price for electricity, after a price hike was announced last month.



Headline inflation rose from 7.7% in February to 8.1% in February, which marked the highest level since December 2003. As a result, inflation is now further above the Central Bank’s tolerance margin of plus/minus 2.0 percentage points around 4.5%.

LatinFocus Consensus Forecast participants see inflation closing 2015 at 7.5%, which is up 0.5 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2016, the panel expects inflation of 5.6%.