LatinNews Daily - 12 October 2026

*Brazil’s national statistics institute (Ibge) has announced that the monthly inflation rate in September was 0.82%, up from deflation of 0.32% in August. This brought annual inflation in September to 4.58%, up from 4.22% the previous month. The categories which saw the highest monthly inflation in September were housing (+2.31%), transport (+0.89%), food and drink (+0.83%), and clothing (+0.71%). Ibge attributed the monthly increase in housing costs to a 7.98% rise in domestic electricity prices. This was a result of the Bônus de Itaipu a temporary electricity bill discount due to surplus revenue from the binational Brazilian-Paraguayan Itaipú hydroelectric dam, which was paid in August but not in September. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government, which is facing an uphill battle to win the presidential run-off election against right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro later this month, attempted to ease transport costs on 9 October by eliminating federal taxes on petrol sales and imports for 30 days, and by introducing for 30 days an additional subsidy of R$1.40 (US$0.28) per litre on diesel imports for transport use, on top of a pre-existing R$2.12 subsidy.