LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s consumer prices rose in March for the second month in a row, but registered an annual slowdown, data published on Tuesday by national statistics agency INEI showed.
Consumer prices increased by 0.81% in March, after a 0.19% rise in February. Annual inflation fell to 1.28% in March, well below the mid-range of the Peruvian central bank target of 1% to 3%.
Inflation for the 12 months ending in March was the lowest since September 2018.
March prices rose mainly due to education, up 3.40%, followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages, gaining 1.85%, and restaurants and hotels, up 0.26%. Prices in the transport segment fell 0.25%, INEI added.
Inflation in the world’s third-largest copper producer is expected to be around 2% for 2025, according to the central bank’s latest estimate, after closing 2024 at 1.97%.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Richard Chang)
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