Brazil's annual inflation slightly up in January, still backing easing outlook

SAO PAULO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - ⁠Brazil's annual ⁠inflation ‍edged up in January, broadly in line with expectations, while remaining within the official target range, ‍data from statistics agency IBGE showed on Tuesday.

Prices ​in Latin America's largest economy rose 4.44% in the 12 months through ​January, up from 4.26% the previous month, but still supporting expectations of monetary easing ahead. Economists polled by Reuters expected it to come ​at 4.43%.

Brazil's central bank targets inflation at 3%, plus or minus 1.5 percentage points, and policymakers have maintained ​a hawkish tone, stressing the need to keep rates steady to bring inflation ‌to the target's midpoint.

In its latest monetary policy decision, the central bank kept the benchmark Selic ​rate at 15%, a near two-decade ⁠high, but signaled in the meeting minutes it would begin cutting interest rates in March.

"We ‌look for an initial 50bp cut and now expect the Selic (rate) to end 2026 at 12.0%," said Andres Abadia, chief Latin ‌America economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

While noting that tight financial conditions continued ‌to weigh on activity and inflation, Abadia argued that high public debt and only gradually re‑anchoring expectations called for keeping real rates in ‍restrictive territory.

In January alone, consumer prices in Brazil rose 0.33%, also virtually matching the 0.32% ⁠expected by economists in the Reuters poll and staying flat compared with December.

Transportation was the main driver of January's reading, IBGE said, citing an increase in fuel prices.

(Reporting by Isabel Teles; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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