Inflation spreads and makes Brazilians review routine and plans

Cuts in the supermarket list, cancellation of services, postponement of trips and courses. With persistent inflation and more widespread throughout the economy, situations like this have become reality for many Brazilians in recent months.

After hitting the poorest, the rise in prices also forces changes in the routine of other layers of the population.

With a tight budget, lawyer Joel Rosa da Rocha, 54, had to postpone his plan to study English. According to him, the course would be important to increase professional training. Rocha wants to do a doctorate, but the desire must wait for another time.

A resident of Itapevi (43 km from São Paulo), he reports that, in addition to direct expenses with studies, any expenses with travel to classes would not have room in his pocket at this time.

To try to save gasoline, which has skyrocketed in the pandemic, Rocha has even reduced the number of car trips to the supermarket during the week. And, in front of the shelves, he had to make calculations and reduce the volume of purchases.

“A true financial engineering is necessary. The average Brazilian needs to do a million accounts nowadays”, he says.

In January, the official index of inflation in Brazil had a high of 0.54%, informed this Wednesday (9) the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). This is the highest result of the IPCA (Broad Consumer Price Index) for the month since 2016 (1.27%). In 12 months, the indicator accumulates a high of 10.38%.

One of the points that worry analysts is the signal that inflation, in addition to being persistent, has become more widespread in recent months.

In January, 8 of the 9 groups of products and services surveyed had price increases, with emphasis on the impact of food and beverages (1.11%).

In the period, the diffusion index calculated by the IBGE was 73%. The indicator measures the percentage of products and services that had their prices high, in a sample with 377 sub-items. The higher it is, the more diffuse inflation is.

January was the second consecutive month with the index above 70%. In December, it was at 75%. A year earlier, in January 2021, this percentage was 66%.

“The rise is now more widespread than in 2021, with the exception of the month of December,” said André Filipe Almeida, an analyst at the IBGE survey.

According to him, the situation is partly related to cost pressure and the breakdown of production chains throughout the pandemic. With the increase in input and operating expenses, companies tend to pass through the prices of goods or services.

“Inflation is more widespread. There is no doubt”, evaluates economist Fábio Astrauskas, managing partner of Siegen Consultoria.

Families reduce meat consumption and cancel service subscriptions

With the pressure generated by the increase in fuel in the pandemic, the family of teacher Elizânia Azanha, 43, also had to leave the car parked for longer in the garage at home, in Mogi das Cruzes (65 km from the capital of São Paulo).

The meal menu has not escaped the effects of rising prices. Meat consumption decreased in the pandemic, and the purchase of fruits and vegetables started to be done only on days of offers at the supermarket. Going to restaurants only on special occasions, such as birthdays.

“Comfort reduction was the alternative we found to have lower costs”, says the professor.

Journalist Lincoln Santiago, 43, from Taubaté (130 km from São Paulo), adds to the list of Brazilians who were forced to reduce consumption in the pandemic.

Alongside his partner and three children, he cut off part of his car trips and canceled pay TV and landline services.

Even the weekend beer was not immune to cost containment, says the journalist. With inflationary pressure, the purchase of the drink decreased.

“When I was a child, I remember that my parents had difficulties with inflation in the 1980s, but I was not one of the people responsible for the family bills”, he compares.

Higher interest rates frighten those who have debt

The concern of architect and urban planner Enio Moronari, 46, is not limited to rising prices for goods and services. The resident of Belo Horizonte (MG) also reports that paying off debts is a task that tends to get even more complicated for him in the coming months.

The fear is related to the rise in the basic interest rate, the Selic, which increases the cost of credit in Brazil. The BC (Central Bank) has been raising the Selic rate in an attempt to contain inflation.

Last week, the rate advanced to 10.75%. According to the Focus report, released by the BC, financial market analysts project a Selic rate of 11.75% at the end of 2022. However, there are already institutions predicting the rate above 12% by December.

A self-employed worker, Moronari considers that rising prices and rising interest rates create a “war for survival”.

“It’s practically a reduction in pleasure. I haven’t been able to plan a trip for two or three years. The difficulties are in everyday life. You see money disappear because almost everything you buy becomes more expensive”, he observes.

recent report from leaf showed that, after punishing the poorest, the crisis generated by the pandemic begins to affect the working income of the upper-middle class in the metropolitan regions of Brazil. The conclusion is from the sixth edition of the Inequality in the Metropolis Bulletin.

In the view of those responsible for the study, the picture reflects the combination of weakness in economic activity and escalating inflation — the data take into account the advance of prices in the country.

Those responsible for the bulletin consider that, even with the losses, families with higher incomes are going through the crisis in a much less dramatic situation than the poorest, since they have better financial conditions.

During the pandemic, the combination of persistent inflation and fragile income made Brazilians seek donations and even leftover food for food.