通胀上升 巴西生活成本增加

A central bank survey in Brazil shows economists raising the 2016 inflation outlook there for a third straight week. They're now forecasting consumer prices to rise by seven percent. That would exceed the government's target range for a second straight year. Brazil's inflation in 2015 accelerated at its fastest rate in 12 years - having a big impact on business and ordinary citizens.

The impact of Brazil's high inflation is felt by families like the Dos Santos, nearly as soon as they wake each day.

According to the official consumer price index, the price Karina's milk rose by more than 8 percent in 2015.

While the electricity to warm it up and watch the morning news rose 51 percent.

Husband Leo says he thinks it's even higher. By coincidence he used exactly the
same amount of energy in December 2014 as he did in December 2015 but the bill was more than 70% higher.

And the list goes on: Having breakfast at a cafe also got more expensive: over 14 percent, according to official data.

And Leo is spending more to fuel up the car too: gasoline rose by more than 20% last year.

"Inflation is hitting everybody from all social classes. People are dropping holiday plans, using their cars less, looking for cheaper schools for their children We still did not have to change our food buying habits but I certainly noticed everything is getting more expensive at the grocer's," Leo said.

All in all, the main consumer price index in Brazil rose more than 10-and-a-half percent in 2015 - much more than the government's inflation target of 6.5%.

Leonardo can't escape the effects of inflation at work, either. Leonardo and his brother Jean run the family business- a metal coating plant. In 2015, inflation made it a lot more expensive for the brothers to run their business.

Brazil's Producer Price Index - topped nine percent from January to November 2015.

To make up for the increased costs the Alves dos Santos brothers also had to boost their prices-- which in turn increases the costs of other industries that hire their services and the cycle goes on.

"Actually our buyers are not complaining too much about our price rises With the current climate in Brazil people see news about inflation all the time and just accept the prices are going up anyway," Alves dos Santos said.

The debate among economists in Brazil now is whether the textbook recipe of increasing interest rates to slow down the economy and fight inflation would work now.

"This is a very controversial issue. Some economists think that this is a waste of time, raising interest rates right now, because of the brutal recession that the Brazilian economy is facing now. Other say it's necessary to raise a little bit to adjust it to investors' expectations of risk and return," Economist Alberto Suen with ABC Federal University said.

Brazil's in a delicate situation of facing at the same low growth and high inflation. Many economists say that only deep structural reforms are likely to produce a long-term solution to the country's financial troubles.