Peru CPI accelerates to 0.65% in March; 12-month inflation cools

Peru's inflation rate was 0.65% in March, a sharp increase from the prior month, the country's official statistics agency said on Wednesday, while the rolling 12-month rate eased slightly.

The inflation rate accelerated from February's 0.14%, largely due to higher food prices and a seasonal hike in educational expenses in the first month of the new academic year, the government said. The South American nation's Consumer Price Index (CPI), the inflation benchmark, was 0.84% for the Jan-March period, while the 12-month inflation rate eased to 1.82%, the National Institute of Statistics and Information (INEI) said in a statement.

The annual rate is currently below the midpoint of the central bank's annual target range of between 1% and 3%. The economic growth in copper-rich Peru lagged last year, dented by a raft of factors including a drop in public investment, a deceleration of global economy and a decline in productivity in the key mining and fishing industries.