The weight of inertia

BRAZIL ECONOMICS - Report 18 May 2026 by Alexandre Schwartsman, Cristina Pinotti and Diego Brandao

The inflation scenario has been marked by both the oil shock, which pushed up inflation expectations even at longer horizons, and resilient economic activity featuring a still tight labor market. Meanwhile, by extending the horizon for inflation convergence to the target, the Central Bank has contributed to increasing inflation inertia. This mechanism is especially relevant for IPCA services component. Our estimates of the Phillips curve indicate that inertia exceeds the expectations channel in underlying services measures, and that the convergence process to the target, besides being slow, will require a sustained negative output gap for a prolonged period.

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