Chile Inflation Picked Up In August, Complicating Rate Cuts

What's going on here? Chile's inflation picked up in August: prices rose 0.6% over the month, lifting annual inflation to 4.1% and nudging it just above the central bank's 2%-4% tolerance range. What does this mean? The headline matters because it was hotter than economists expected: a Reuters poll pointed to a 0.3% monthly rise, and July's increase was just 0.1%. Chile's statistics agency, INE, said the biggest price pressures came from food and non-alcoholic beverages (up 1.4% month-on-month) and transport (up 1.6%), with most categories in the consumer basket rising. That pushed annual inflation up to 4.1% from 3.5% in July, complicating the central bank's balancing act as it t..