Brazil registered its first monthly decline in consumer prices in more than two years, with the IPCA-15 index falling 0.14% in the August sampling period, according to the national statistics agency IBGE. The drop was driven mainly by cheaper electricity, food and transportation, including lower gasoline and airline ticket prices. Despite the monthly deflation, annual inflation eased only modestly to 4.95% from 5.30% in mid-July, remaining well above the central bank’s 3% target. Food and non-alcoholic beverages fell 0.53%, while the housing group slid 1.13% on a 4.93% decline in residential power tariffs. Transport costs dropped 0.47% as gasoline prices retreated 1.14%. The Central Bank of Brazil has kept its benchmark Selic rate at a two-decade high of 15% and signalled it will maintain tight policy until inflation moves convincingly toward target. Policymakers are balancing slowing domestic demand against lingering price pressures and external risks, including the 50% tariff the United States imposed on Brazilian products earlier this year. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who faced public discontent after a surge in staple prices earlier in 2025, has welcomed the latest figures as evidence that government efforts to contain costs are taking hold. Analysts cautioned, however, that a sustained disinflation trend will depend on the trajectory of global commodity prices and fiscal policy debates heading into 2026.