Rising inflation complicates Brazil’s Covid-19 crisis

Seven months after the blockade, Michele Marquez received unwelcome news when he returned to work. While she was away, the prices of almost every product she used as a beautician soared.

“Glove boxes have risen 200 percent. A 37-year-old woman from São Paulo emphasized how costs were rising while earnings were declining, with colored products increasing by at least 100 percent. “I also had to raise the price of my service.”

This is a dynamic that is being rolled out across Brazil, adding a layer of national complexity. Coronavirus crisisHas already claimed the lives of nearly 350,000 people and put hospital services at stake.

Many of Latin America’s largest economies have been closed Inflation is skyrocketing It reached its highest level in a few years and fueled the tragedy of quiet hunger among the poor citizens that ran in parallel with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The high prices of staple foods (such as rice and beans) have eliminated these items from the tables of millions of Brazilians,” said Ana Maria Segall, a researcher at the Brazilian Research Network on food and nutrition sovereignty. Says. Security. In the 12 months to the end of March, rice prices rose 64% and black beans prices rose 51%.

“To Brazil Currently, food inflation is detrimental to the very poor, hindering adequate access to food and leading to hunger in many situations, “he added, adding that rising unemployment and shrinking social programs are also factors. It was.

This is a dynamic that is being rolled out across Brazil, adding a layer of national complexity. Coronavirus crisisHas already claimed the lives of nearly 350,000 people and put hospital services at stake.

Many of Latin America’s largest economies have been closed Inflation is skyrocketing It reached its highest level in a few years and fueled the tragedy of quiet hunger among the poor citizens that ran in parallel with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The high prices of staple foods (such as rice and beans) have eliminated these items from the tables of millions of Brazilians,” said Ana Maria Segall, a researcher at the Brazilian Research Network on food and nutrition sovereignty. Says. Security. In the 12 months to the end of March, rice prices rose 64% and black beans prices rose 51%.

“To Brazil Currently, food inflation is detrimental to the very poor, hindering adequate access to food and leading to hunger in many situations, “he added, adding that rising unemployment and shrinking social programs are also factors. It was.”

This development already poses a new challenge to President Jair Bolsonaro. Under the fire For his treatment of the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout Brazil’s largest city, graffiti was born to label the populist leader “Borsocalo” (the portmanteau of his name, which means expensive in Portuguese).

Price increases could also provide useful ammunition to leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Came back Bolsonaro may be challenged in next year’s elections in the political struggle last month.

“Bolsonaro is due to rising food prices and he is all due. They must take this man away,” said Maria Isabel de Jesus, a retiree from São Paulo.

Armando Castelar, a researcher at the Brazilian Institute for Economic Research, said the government underestimated inflation in terms of both the number of inflations and “how much concern it should be”.

He said the rise in prices was partly due to the stimulus measures passed by the U.S. government (which pushed the dollar up and led to higher yields in the Treasury) and the devaluation of the Brazilian currency, partly caused by a bright economic outlook outside Latin America. I thought it was due.

“Commodity prices are rising due to the significant growth of the global economy this year. With the growth of the United States, interest rates are rising and the dollar is rising. This is Brazil and general emerging markets. Puts a lot of pressure on the exchange rate of the US dollar, “he said.

As the ghost of inflation was approaching last month, Central Bank of Brazil Raised key interest rates by 75 basis points. This is more than half a percentage point expected by many economists. Further rate hikes are expected next month.